REPOSTED Property Rights
by Foxyfiona
Summary: Shortly after the guys return from Sierra Verde, Jim is faced with a threat to both the Sentinel & Guide. He doesn't seem to be handling this any better than the last one. Can our guys learn from past mistakes as secrets are revealed and old wounds are reopened? Set before TSbyBS, with spoilers for episodes before S2P2. Friendship.
1. Chapter 1

1 Property Rights

The following characters surrounding the show 'The Sentinel' are the property of PetFly Productions and I am just borrowing them. Not making money, just having fun and filling creative needs...and yada yada...you get the picture. I did my doody.

Normally when James Ellison woke up it was to the enticing aroma of strong coffee drifting up to him in his room. He would unconsciously inhale deeply as the stimulant worked to clear his mind of the cobwebs that had taken up residence from the previous night's sleep. Soon the sounds of his roommate tinkering around in the kitchen would aid in driving away any chances of him catching a few more precious minutes of sleep. And eventually he would be forced to join the land of the living as he was lured downstairs with the promise of good food. Sadly that was not the case this Monday morning.

Jim rolled over in his bed and glared at the alarm clock for what felt like the fifth time in as many minutes. It still flashed the aggravating time at him in all it's glaringly green glory. "4:25," he said. Time had seemed to slow to an agonizing crawl ever since he had awoken from a rather disconcerting dream.

Swinging his legs over the side of the bed he let his bare feet touch the cool wood floor beneath him. There was no point laying in bed if sleep refused to return. With a weary sigh he scrubbed his hands over his face trying to shake the unnerving feeling still lingering from his dream. The memory of what he had dreamt of was quickly disappearing like wisps of smoke. The jaguar again...Jim rubbed at his face fiercely. Today was his day off. He had really been looking forward to sleeping in and waking only after Blair had made breakfast and all too cheerily announced his departure for the university.

At the thought of his younger roommate Jim cocked his head to the side and extended his senses to the room below. He growled, there was the slow and steady heartbeat of his guide sleeping peacefully in the room beneath his own. A twisted smile slipped across his face as he realized there really was no need for him to be jealous of his friend's undisturbed sleep. If Jim was up then he might as well make himself useful and make some breakfast for them. If the young man just so happened to be awoken by the sounds and smells of what he was doing in the kitchen at 4:30 in the morning that was simply an unfortunate side effect of living with a roommate who just so happened to have a different work schedule than he did.

A plan placed firmly in mind Jim donned his slippers, hopped out of the bed, and headed downstairs grinning at the loud slapping sounds the annoying shoes made with each step. The poor kid had no chance. If he was not going to have the ability to sleep in on his first day off in two weeks then he sure wouldn't be suffering through the injustice of it on his own.

Jim crossed the dining area and started noisily searching through the cabinets and drawers for the things he would need to make eggs Benedict. It was a rule of thumb and between the two of them that whoever woke first to make breakfast had the choice of making the meal they wanted. There would be no green algae shakes this morning or funky oatmeals supposed to enhance your health. He was going for good old fashioned comfort food. Noisy kitchen fare. A sure fire way to wake the dead or a graduate student for that matter.

He was only a few minutes into the cooking process when his hearing picked up the unmistakeable groan of despair from said outraged roommate which floated through the French doors and into the kitchen. That groan held so much frustration and had been so loud the Senior Detective and former army ranger was sure he would not have had to have super human hearing to have heard it. In fact he grinned as he slammed the refrigerator door shut, his own form of reply to his roommate, the dead could have been woken up by that clearly exaggerated groan.

Years of honing his sense of hearing gave him the advantage of easily picturing the cause of disgruntled sounds he was hearing emanating from his former storage room and office. He poured the milk into the skillet and hummed as he heard Blair fail to place his clock back on the night stand, cursing as it clattered noisily to the floor. The cord from the kid's clock knocked a stack of school papers to the floor and the sounds of Blair rushing to catch the mess before it was completely overturned and disorganized were instantly followed by the startled cry of his roommate crashing to the floor in a tangled heap of sheets, sleep paralyzed limbs, and papers.

Jim was sure that if his fellow detectives from major crimes ever found out what he was currently putting their lovable mascot through on his morning off he would have quite a few angry detectives reading him the riot act. And there was no doubt in his mind's eye that his coworkers would find out. Ever since Captain Banks had made the young man an official police consultant they had made it quite clear to Jim that they would expect him to take good care of the young genius who was now counted as one of their own. He may not have had the badge and gun but he had proven himself in the eyes of those men and women. And if Blair ran into any of Ellison's coworkers today looking like something the cat dragged in then they would be all over the young man like white on rice; ready to come to their friend's aid and mete out justice to whoever had dealt unkindly with him.

"Jim... I know you can hear me, man. Why, dear god, are you up this early?"

The hoarse way in which Blair whispered out to Jim from within his bedroom suddenly made him question whether his selfishly cruel behavior had been perhaps poorly timed. With a quick flick of the wrist the man had turned the range to simmer and crossed the kitchen to the kid's doorway. Since the door was partly opened he peeked his head inside and focused his keen eyes to see into the pitch black darkness of Blair's room. "Chief, you do realize you are still on the floor?" He watched as the mass of curly hair and afghan covers on the floor shifted to reveal an equally dark set of puffy blue eyes. "Been burning the midnight oil again, eh kid?" Jim took a moment to envision the dials which controlled his senses and turned up the one for hearing. He had gotten really good at scanning his young partner for signs of sickness and exhaustion. There were no signs of any of these but he knew with Sandburg appearances could be deceiving. His eyes compensated for the lack of light and found no fever flushed flesh. The momentary twinge of worry vanished and he reverted to his mischievous attitude and actions. "Times a wasting Sandburg. Up and at 'em, junior." He swung the French doors open wide to allow the light from the kitchen to flood the cluttered room within.

"Hsssssss..." Blair tried to retreat into his covers. "It's just not right."

"Wah-wah-wah, cry me a river. Breakfast is almost ready and unless you want cold congealed gravy over rock hard biscuits then I suggest you get up and out here asap." He watched as his younger roommate threw the covers off to clutch dramatically at his heart. He rolled his eyes and went back to cooking.

"I think my heart just seized, Jim. You trying to have a heart attack, or give me one?"

Out in the kitchen Ellison grinned victoriously, he had succeeded in waking his roommate. Blair had clearly given up any chance of getting some more sleep if he was alert enough to banter with him.

Jim made himself a plate and then waited for his partner to join him at the table. He heard rather than saw the grad student make a mad dash for the bathroom and promptly turned down his sense of hearing to give the man some privacy. The sound of the shower being turned on a few moments later though, had him calling out to his roommate to interrupt his priorities. 'Like hell is he gonna get all the hot water this morning,' he thought realizing what Blair might have had in mind as retribution for this morning's early wake-up call. "Shut it off, Sandburg! Breakfast first."

The sound of the shower turning off was followed by the bathroom door opening and a pair of suspicious blues eyes peering out into the dining area. Blair reluctantly abandoned his attempt at a shower for the interim and made his way into the kitchen. "Ooookay..."

When Blair shamelessly apportioned out a massive helping of breakfast for himself Ellison didn't even try to disguise his snort," You're so full of it; your eyes should be brown, Sandburg. What was all that about eating healthy?"

"Hey man, I eat well most of the time. This is a sometimes food for me. Now you..." Blair eased down into his chair at the table and started in on his food. "I weep for your arteries."

Jim smirked as he calculated the time it would take for him and Blair to finish off their breakfast. He was going to enjoy that hot shower first. With the food on his plate finished he grabbed his coffee mug and made as if he was going to pour himself another cup of joe. As a Sentinel he could hear the elevated heartbeat of the younger man nervously spike the moment he got up from his seat. As he walked past him towards the coffee maker the kid was clearly wary of his actions but apparently chose to believe him innocent in motives. Right before he would have turned to approach the counter Jim spun around and sprinted towards the bathroom. He could hear the clatter of Sandburg dropping his fork and rushing out of his seat to overtake him.

"Jim! I knew it you sneaky bas-" Blair came up short as the bathroom door slammed shut in his face.

"Ah-ah ah, Junior! Language..." Ellison leaned heavily against the door laughing at the imagined expression on his roommate's face. With a flick of his wrist he locked the door and went about getting undressed for a nice relaxing long hot shower. He could still hear Blair groaning angrily on the other side of the door.

"Man, you've got all day for a shower Jim. You're off today! I have an hour till I have got to be at the campus for my first class. Come on..."

The sound of a forehead thumping against the hard wood door could be heard from within and for a brief second Jim empathized with his best friend. He growled, shaking his head clear of the traitorous thoughts. "You know what they say about pay back, Junior." With that said he turned the dials for his sense of hearing down to drown out any further protest and slipped into the hot stream of water determined to enjoy the rest of his day.

Outside the restroom Blair kicked the base of the door in exasperation. He knew he had lost this war but the timing could not have been worse. Today was supposed to be Professor Stoddard's review of Blair's classroom curriculum with the hope for a referral for a possible stipend increase. He had wanted to be early or at the very least on time. Now the only way that would be possible was if he forwent a shower, or he chose to bear the frigid waters of a depleted water heater and its subsequent consequences. He glanced at the clock in the kitchen and relegated himself to starting off his day without a shower. Late autumn was not a time to be lowering his immune system in addition to the strains an academic schedule already put on his exhausted body. Appetite lost, Blair retreated to his room tucked beneath the loft and stairs and started getting ready for his classes.

'He just had to be in a kidding mood today...' that gave him pause for thought. His Sentinel's behavior did seem to be a bit off this morning having considered the week they had.

Most of the Bull Pen had been putting major overtime into trying to track down a novice terrorist bomber who had been targeting homeless shelters all over the city. Though the bomber had done little more than obliterate two fortunately vacant shelters he had proved considerably difficult to track down. After a week of hard work and hours spent hitting the streets in search of their prime suspect, the diligent work of the men and women of the Major Crimes Division had finally paid off.

A little under 48 hours ago Ellison had caught their bomber in the process of shopping for the supplies for his next target. Hours of paperwork later, mostly filled out by yours truly, and the lead Detective had finally been ordered home for some hard earned rest. Which really left Blair wondering how the man had so much energy as to be up at, 'unbelievable, 5am?'

Before the grad student could make a mental note to question his friend on the matter his cell phone alarm went of alerting him to having only half an hour left till he was supposed to be at the university. Blair Sandburg finished gathering the reports he had spent most of the night grading and shoved them into his backpack. With one final glance at the bathroom door he hurried out of the place he had called home for the last three years and rushed to meet his students for class. For once he was grateful to leave the Loft behind and what had surely been a stressful start to his week.


	2. Chapter 2

Inside the shower Jim had just shut off the water when he felt the house tremble from the force of the front door to the Loft slamming shut. He instantly turned his hearing up to confirm his suspicions; Blair had rushed off to school. He frowned considering how early it was yet; the kid didn't normally head off to the University this early. He shrugged while toweling off. Blair Sandburg had a life of his own and so did he. He needed to focus on the task at hand, one solid week of time off from work. His Captain had forced the paid vacation on him.

[ "Take the time off, Jim. You deserve it after catching Miles Fleming. I don't want to see your sorry face in here for at least a week." The harshness of the order was softened by the kindness in the rich brown eyes of Cpt. Simon Banks. The tall black man opened the door to his office signaling that the discussion was over and that he would brook no room for argument. He nodded towards the bull pen and the figure of the sleeping police observer at Detective Ellison's desk. "Take him home. Besides I think you guys need the break." ]

Jim had gathered Blair and they had headed straight home, too weary to even bother with grabbing a bite to eat for dinner. His initial plan had simply been to get a really good night's sleep in, but the nightmare had put an abrupt end to that.

He shuddered at the thought of the jaguar that he had seen in his dream. Those visions rarely meant anything good was about to happen in his life. In fact he could only think of one time he had been happy about their existence: The morning at the fountain when he had been granted another chance with the gift of his guide's life.

Chasing away his feeling of impending doom Jim instead tried to focus on the possibilities that lay before him in the here and now. He would have to think of something relaxing to do for the first day of his vacation. 'A full day of loafing around the Loft has a nice ring to it. Maybe a movie marathon," he grinned exiting the bathroom and heading up the stairs to his room to put on some fresh clothes.

And so for most of the morning Jim held to his plan of really doing nothing more than relaxing at home. He even fell asleep on the couch for a time while watching 'Die Hard 2'. It was about noon before he started feeling hungry and made his way to the kitchen to fix himself a bite to eat for lunch.

When the vision hit him he wasn't ready for it. He stumbled forward barely missing the island's countertop to catch himself. His body sagged against it for support. He screwed his eyes shut as all the light in the loft seemed to spike intensely and cringed when the sounds from the entire apartment building threatened to overwhelm him then suddenly narrowed to the space in the loft.

In that instant of vulnerability he knew he was no longer alone in the loft. There were the sounds of a dog snarling and growling defensively. The sound seemed to be calling to him. The growls were coming from within his Guide's bedroom. The Sentinel slowly turned his head towards the double French doors that led into Blair's room and there he spotted a jaguar. It was sleek and black just like his animal guide but there was something off with it though, he could sense it. The large cat had been facing the bedroom when Jim staggered forward towards it, with that movement the animal turned its head to face him, bright yellow eyes ablaze. Instantly he could see that this was not his jaguar. Down the left side of this animal's face there were fresh claw marks. The slashes were bright red and inflamed. When it locked gazes with Jim it bared its teeth at him in warning. Jim froze, his chest tightened and his blood ran cold within his veins. The snarls of the animal within Blair's room started up again and the big cat's focus shifted from Jim to what lay beyond the darkness of the doorway. The Sentinel's eyes followed suit and he adjusted his dials to see what the source of the noises were. If he had felt disoriented before, then now all he wanted to do hurl.

'Not again,' he thought as his chest constricted even more making breathing all that more difficult. It was the wolf, his Guide's wolf. The very same one he had seen in a vision not too long ago. "Blair." He wanted this to end, he wanted so badly to snap out of this trance he was in and get to his best friend. But he couldn't, he had learned that wasn't the way these visions worked. He was supposed to be seeing something here, but what he was meant to see he wasn't sure he would like.

The wolf was trying to ward off this newcomer it seemed, but with little success. The feline advanced unafraid until it had backed the wolf against the far wall. Then in a flash of ebony it pounced on the wolf.

Jim fell to his knees forced to only be an observer of these events. In his mind it was happening all over again, the fountain, losing the young Anthropologist, his death. He heard the wolf howl and yelp and then silence fell. A moment later the Jaguar softly padded out of the room with what looked like a wolf pup held within its jaws by the scruff of its neck. With its prize firmly in its grasp the big cat slinked to the door of the loft and walked right through it. A moment later he heard the unmistakable cry of a jaguar from above him. He whipped his head up to see it and recognized the green glass eyes of his animal guide staring accusingly down at him. It cried out angrily once more but this time there was a hint of mourning to the sound and then it disappeared.

Within that same instant his sense returned to normal and the phone rang out shrilly across the loft. James Ellison felt numb as he climbed to his feet and staggered across the loft to where his cell lay on the table. He lifted it to his ear and held his breath. "Sandburg?" he asked hesitantly. The voice on the other end of the line was nervous and panicky but still it was music to the sentinel's ears.

"Jim, man you are not gonna believe me when I say this but-"

"You've met another Sentinel." It was less of a question and more of a statement. A very strong feeling of possessiveness was closely overshadowing the relief he felt at hearing his partner was alive.

"How-how did you..."

Jim was already out the door rushing down the stairwell several steps at a time. "Right before you called I had one of those visions, chief." He could hear Blair's breathing begin to shallow and quicken with the full implication of what he had said. He rushed out the building and tore open the door to his truck.

{ "I'm at Professor Stoddard's office, Jim. Get here fast. I don't know how long I can keep him fooled." }

"Stay where you are. I am coming to get you." There was the distant sound of glass breaking and then a crash. He knew he was a good 15-minute drive to the university so he threw the siren on and flashed his lights to enable him to go faster. He could hear the desperation in the young man's next words.

"Jim I am sorry. I didn't know, please believe me, I didn't know. Oh god...how could he. Not again, not again, not again. I don't want to go back in the fountain, man. I can't, not again. I-I can'tgasp breathgasp please...Vision must've beengaspa warning."

'Yeah, some warning,' he thought. They hadn't had time to protect themselves. Jim tried to extend his hearing across the wireless connection, panicking momentarily when he couldn't hear anything beyond what was normal. Then he realized it had to be the white noise generator masking those sounds. That was what the young man had meant by fooling this other Sentinel. "Listen Chief, I'm just a couple of minutes away. I need you to calm down and breath, buddy. I am not gonna let you go in that fountain again. I promise you, Sandburg. Do you hear me kid? Buddy? Blair!" It felt like an eternity before he got a response and when it came it was a hushed strained whisper.

"Blonde, wavy hair, green eyes-about 6' 3". Lean, maybe 200. Andrew Cooper, has a limp to his walk. He-he's a doctor from the UK. I-I think he may have hurt Professor Stoddard, Jim. He has an accent, British. I don't know what's going on, man, Eli's known him for a while now but he's snapped. He's always been real nice but he just suddenly lost it... "

"That's good, Chief, keep it up. Stay calm and focused. I can see the university already. I'm almost there." The sounds of destruction were getting closer and louder and so when Blair spoke next he had lowered his voice even more.

"Any time now man. I could really use that blessed protector now."

Jim snatched the radio receiver from his dashboard and put a call in for back up, "This is Detective Ellison! Officer needs assistance at Rainier University campus we have an armed assailant attempting to assault teachers and students at Hargrove Hall. Requesting back up at the Anthropology building on the east side of the campus near the main fountain. I will be going in ahead of any backup. Eta is 3 minutes." Immediately his radio crackled to life and he heard the dispatcher respond.

"Copy that, Detective Ellison. There are several units already in the area and more are being called in to respond. Please keep us informed of your progress. And good luck with Blair, Ellison."

Jim relayed the information Blair had given him about the Sentinel to dispatch and added that the man probably had special training in combat situations and for all officers to take extreme precaution. He drove into the campus parking like a bat out of hell and growled when he saw the large crowd of spectators blocking the building's entrance. He extended his senses once again to detect where the other Sentinel was only to slam the door to his pick up truck shut in frustration as he realized the white noise generator was still on.

He was shoving his way through the crowd of students waiving his badge and ordering them all to draw back to a safer distance away from the school when he noticed the thick smoke gathering behind some of the classroom windows.

The crowd started panicking as more staff and students noticed the smoke. There were a series of small explosions that shook the campus around the building his partner was in.

Jim felt his gut wrench in fear for the safety of his guide. The only indication he still maintained a connection with Blair on his cell was from the muffled sounds of the young man trying to cover over his startled cry of alarm when the explosions rocked the building. "Sandburg, buddy? Still with me? I'm entering your building now and it would be a great help if you shut off that device, Junior."

"I smell smoke-Oh my god he's, I can't believe he is going to destroy the classrooms, Jim. My office and all the research I have, it'll be destroyed. "

"Stay where you are!"

"I can't-" There was the sounds of the anthropologist moving out of his hiding place.

"Sandburg, he is just trying to draw you out. I'll be there in a minute. Just stay where you are and turn off that device, Blair, so I can find you sooner!" he coughed, stooping low in the corridor to avoid inhaling the smoke.

Over the tiny speaker in his cell phone he heard the creek of a door opening and then a muffled curse followed by the voice of a stranger. "Why here you are my friend. Oh and what's this then-a mobile? And whom might you be trying to reach, now? Tut tut."

"Don't you touch him!" Jim heard the connection go dead. "I told you to stay hidden, Sandburg," He growled as he rushed past various classrooms glancing into them to ensure they were empty. His instincts were screaming at him to find his Guide. He stalked down one of the labyrinth like corridors in search of the office of Blair's mentor, knowing that he would have to eventually run into them. He had been there only once to meet the older man who was like an uncle to Blair but he could remember this wing exited out down the corridor Jim had just come from. He thought he heard the sounds of struggling from up ahead. "Fine, Chief, we'll do this old school." Using the cover of the smoke to hopefully mask any noises he stealthily approached the source of the scuffle.

The phone was ripped out of Blair's hand the second he walked out of Stoddard's office. Andrew Cooper swept his legs out from under him and pinned him to the floor. "Shoot!" He struggled against the enhanced strength of the sentinel above him.

"Why here you are my friend. Oh and what's this then, a mobile. And whom might you be trying to reach, now? Tut tut."

Adrenaline coursed through his body as his mind flashed back to a similar incident not too long ago when Alex Barnes had come after him. He tried in vain to dislodge the mountain pinning him to the floor. It was only a minor consolation that he was being pinned out of the water this time.

Blair heard his phone clatter to the ground next to his face and reflexively jerked back as a large boot came smashing down on it inches from his face. Sandburg had heard the angry shout of his best friend through the speaker of his cell phone right before it was demolished. He wanted his blessed protector to appear. He was in no great hurry to die again especially so soon after having been given another chance at life.

"Andrew listen I'm sorry for using your senses against you to get away but I couldn't help you. I cannot help you! I know how desperate for help you must feel to justify everything you have done so far but give me time to find someone else to help you." He could feel the panic gripping his chest like a vice. He really wanted to reason with this sentinel, even more so since the world had already lost one of these incredible beings. He felt himself roughly flipped over onto his back.

Andrew Cooper smiled down at the young graduate student who held the key to controlling his senses. For the briefest moment he had felt sane once again as he had held the anthropologist's wrist that first time they met. All his senses had calmed instantly. It was as if someone had wrapped him in an invisible thick blanket to protect him from the sharp stimuli of the surrounding environment. Even now his body reacted positively with such close proximity to the young man. He reached back into his pocket and pulled out a small enclosed syringe. He was not going to lose the control the young man could give him.

Blair couldn't help his look of mortified terror when he saw the needle, he watched as Andrew brought it to his teeth to remove the cap. "Oh boy, listen, killing me is so not the answer." He struggled to swallow the panic attack trying to overwhelm him, grateful for the adrenaline his body was producing.

"You mistake my intentions, Blair. I wouldn't dream of killing you. When I asked you to aide me in controlling these senses I was really just being polite." The obsessed Sentinel lowered the needle to inject Blair. "I am going to take you with me with or without your permission and you are going to help me gain control."

Understanding came quickly to Blair as he watched the needle descend. 'No!' Desperation drove him to swiftly gather his legs beneath him and with all of his strength kick up at the man. He didn't pause to see if he had harmed him, but scrambled to his feet and bolted down the corridor through the thick smoke trying to put as much distance between him and his attacker. He could make out cursing a ways behind, 'got to get away, got to get to Jim. Don't stop, keep running!'

His lungs were burning with the acrid smoke he had carelessly inhaled by not staying low to the floor. He was blind as he ran but determined. When he collided with a solid wall of flesh, panic took over and he began blindly striking out as two large arms trapped him against a strong body, effectively immobilizing him. He cried out in fear, "Jim!" chocking on the smoke which engulfed him. The terrified plea for help was rewarded with a hand clamped firmly over his mouth. An electrical current pulsed through his body where his captor's bare skin made contact with his and he doubled his efforts to escape. He felt his body lifted off the floor as he was manhandled through a door into a space free of smoke. The arm pinning his to his sides was removed and he heard the lock engage on the door. Instantly his hands shot up to try to pry the hand away from his mouth. A familiar shushing sound was whispered into his ear and Blair's body sagged in relief with the recognition of who was holding him. Once the hand over his mouth was removed and he was released he spun around and punched his best friend in the shoulder. "What took you so long?"

"And a cheery hi to you too, Chief."

Blair rolled his eyes about to snap back at his older friend when his body convulsed in a fit of deep spasming coughs. With the adrenaline surge subsiding now that he was in the relative safety of his blessed protector his body was revolting with the abuse it had been forced to endure in order to escape. His already weakened lungs ached with the smoke inhalation and he clutched at his chest dropping to his knees gasping for a breath of air. He felt his partner kneel down beside him and rub circles on his back trying to ease the pain while the convulsions passed.

"You wouldn't have made it far running the way you had Sandburg. Didn't you ever learn to stay low when trying to escape a burning building?"

"Easy for you to say, you weren't escaping an obsessed Sentinel," Blair hissed quietly. The contact at his back seemed to ease his nerves and soon Blair felt the urge to cough subside. When he struggled to stand back up Jim helped him with a hand at his elbow and a surface to lean against. The strength with which Jim gripped him told Blair volumes about how worried and keyed up his Sentinel was at the moment. He saw his friend give him a cursory once over to make sure he was all right and noticed the frown on the man's face deepen.

"Why haven't you turned off the generator yet?" The anger was a carefully controlled one but his voice still betrayed how upset Jim was.

"Bad idea man," came Blair's raspy reply, "he'll detect you and me too. Besides," he was overcome by a sudden violent coughing fit and when he tried to catch his next breath he was wheezing heavily. "...might zone on fumes." When the man didn't push the point any further he realized he had been granted a stay of execution for the time being.

There was more muffled coughing and Jim could tell his Guide was having trouble catching a breath. He left Blair's side to glance back through the window of the door growling with the uselessness he felt when he couldn't peer out beyond the dense smoke filling the hall. "Well it seems this guy has decided against hunting you down in this mess for now," he turned back around and quickened his pace to reach the young man just as Sandburg doubled over in another terrible coughing fit. "Didn't I tell you to stay put?" He dropped to his knees to quickly scan the young man's vitals wincing again at the fact that he was forced into normal mode right now. The absence of his Guide's heartbeat filled him with a physical ache that demanded his attention and soon.

"I had to try to get to my research..."

"News flash, Sandburg. After Alex's break in and theft you moved it all to the loft, remember."

"Actually," Blair averted his eyes from the angry glare and gulped, "I forgot." He saw Jim's look of frustrated disappointment in him and he bristled in response, "it was only a month ago, man. I just forgot in all the excitement!"

"That still doesn't excuse the fact that you deliberately disobeyed me." He was uncomfortable with all the noise they were making; still wary they were going to draw some very unwanted attention. He was beginning to feel very irate with his guide. His arms were tingling from where his skin had come in contact with Blair's. He tried not to dwell on this new aspect of his senses and what they meant.

"I what?!" Blair stalked past Ellison and over to the door, "you know what, Jim? I am not even going to dignify that with a response." From somewhere behind them there were several loud explosions and Jim and Blair were thrown to the ground from the percussive force.

Jim crawled over to the grad student to protect him from the embers and falling debris. "You have got some way of making friends," he hauled Blair up by the waist and then looked around in an attempt to get his bearings.

"Oh, don't even start man. "

The small sanctuary where they had retreated to was now steadily filling with smoke. They could sense that the fire that was raging through Hargrove Hall was getting closer to there location.

"We need a way out of here, Chief. "

Blair peered around the small windowless room and then past Jim to the door and the hallway beyond. He squared his shoulders aware that it would be a death sentence to remain here in an attempt to avoid the inevitable confrontation he feared. "We can get out of here through one of the upstairs windows." They navigated out the now open door, hanging from only one of its hinges, and out into the hall they had come from.

The path Jim had taken was engulfed in flames. The offices on this floor had recently installed gates over the windows to keep students and vandals from breaking in. Blair steered them towards the nearest stairwell. One floor up and the windows would be free from any antitheft devices meaning they could attract the attention of a firefighter or scale down to safety.

Jim propped the anthropologist up against the wall motioning him to stay. He cautiously peered through the passage into the stairwell and could see and hear nothing. He exited back through the door and hauled Sandburg to his feet, "You'll breath easier in the stairwell; very little smoke."

"Great, because my mouth is starting to feel like an ashtray."

The second Jim had Blair within the relative safety of the stairwell and his guide had caught his breath for a moment, he spun around catching him off guard and pinned him against the wall behind them. He started to frisk him in search of the white noise generator, not bothering to be gentle as he did so. While his guide's argument had merit he had tolerated enough.

"Jim? Wha-" Realization dawned on his face as Jim pulled out the small device.

James Ellison held the device in a steely grip, "This thing stays with me from now on. Capisce?" He waited for his guide to acknowledge him and only when the young man nodded his head nervously did the forearm pinning him to the wall get removed. "Now that I have you with me, I'm turning this thing off." He could see the argument in Blair's eyes but the look he threw him silenced any disagreement the young man might have had.

Jim placed his large hand over his Guide's heart and quickly opened his senses up to reconnect with the young man before him. First, his hearing registered the heart beating strongly beneath his palm, and then his tactile senses reaffirmed its reality with the feel of the blood rushing through the vessels beneath the layers of clothes and skin. The relief at being able to make use of his senses again was palpable. He inhaled deeply and his olfactory senses immediately picked up the rich and complex set of scents that he identified solely as his best friend and Guide, but overlaying those markers was a stronger smell that had his hackles rising.

The hand Jim had resting on Blair's shirt fisted the fabric unconsciously. Something in that odor made his blood boil and as he examined it more closely he realized it was intertwined with another scent he associated with the Anthropologist when he was anxious and fearful. "I can smell the other Sentinel on you," he growled, his hand releasing the shirt to wrap around Blair's neck.

Blair's eyes widened in surprise, in nature some species of animals were known to reject or kill members of their group if the scent of a stranger or challenger were smelled on them. He felt his breath shallow as he stood frozen waiting to see which course of action he might be called upon to take. He had confidence in the fact that though Jim had pushed him around in the past when under great stress, the older man had never once hurt him. He relied on this fact now to help keep him calm in the face of his best friend's internal conflict.

"Jim?" he asked in his most calming tone of voice, trying to reach through to the Detective. What he saw on the man's face conflicted with everything Jim stood for. Two emotions stood out at least that he could identify: there was the primal instinctual rage of a threatened Sentinel and the evident confusion of a man trying to rein in the unexpected hostility he felt towards his best friend.

"Dial it back, man. Please." He was using the voice that always succeeded at pulling the man back from the edge of a zone out. He slowly brought his own hand up to cover over the wrist of the hand around his throat, ignoring the electrical current that rushed through their contact. He could feel the fine tremors as Jim fought the urge to snap his neck. "Jim, please."

With a gasp and a shake of his head Ellison dropped his arm to his side and staggered back looking over at his friend in a mixture of fear, panic, and disbelief. "Blair, I'm sorry. I-Jesus!"

"I'm okay, big guy." Blair took a step forward to rest his hand comfortingly on Jim's shoulder. "No biggies. We are both still figuring this out and this is some majorly uncharted territory we are dealing with. I can't believe I'm saying this but we can deal with this 'stuff '," he made imaginary air quotes in the air, "later, but for now let's just get back on track."

"Yeah. Right. Explosions, fleeing, subterfuge-" Ellison's eyes narrowed in anger once more and he shook the device in Blair's face accusingly, "I thought we agreed not to keep this thing around any more."

"Really? You want to talk about this now?! Burning building here, man. Plus, count them, two homicidal Sentinels." The only response Blair got was a growl from his Blessed Protector, so he sighed in defeat and began explaining, "I gave it to Eli Stoddard to keep a while back. I knew where Eli had stored it and I used it to get away from Cooper and stay hidden. I'm sorry, I know it affected you too."

At the mention of the other Sentinel's name Jim instantly extended his sense of hearing out to search for where in the building he was. "No. You did the right thing, Sandburg. It just always throws me off." He scanned the Anthropology building and frowned pulling Blair by his coat towards the stairs.

Blair saw the way the older man's head was cocked and knew what he was trying to do. "Can you sense him?" He followed Jim up the stairs two at a time trying to keep up with the taller man's long stride.

"No," came the terse reply. "Just lots of heartbeats in general. I don't get it. With Alex I could always sense her just like with you." Jim felt the young man stiffen beside him at the mention of Barnes' name and he heard his heart rate spike. "I didn't really even have to try. I could feel where she was, and tell her apart from others. I can hear several heartbeats up above us but I couldn't tell you which one of them was the Sentinel." Jim felt a tug on his forearm halting his forward progress.

"This makes sense. The draw you two felt was instinctual. Mate and procreate, being able to locate a female of your kind easier would make sense. But Cooper is male, hence there is no drive. At the most he would be a rival for your territory or perhaps a younger challenger as in the cases of lions, when the dominant male was older and could be overthrown and kicked out of the pride." Blair was pacing on the landing animatedly, excited over the new data he was gathering. "It only stands to reason that unlike with females, males would be unable to sense one another. Perhaps a means of protecting themselves from possible threats or concealing themselves from their prey. Maybe-"

Jim interjected as his impatience grew, "He didn't come after me, Darwin. He came after you. What do you make of that, huh?" The ensuing silence was all the opportunity he needed to grab the young man's coat sleeve and continue pulling him up the remaining flight of steps.

In the distance from somewhere within the building a couple of small explosions rocked the floor beneath their feet and both men clutched the rail to keep steady.

"We need to get out of here!" Ellison growled. As he cleared the next landing he felt his gaze drawn through the small window in the door and out into the hallway and classrooms beyond. Just through the smoky haze he could make out what appeared to be several people being assisted by fire firefighters out a window and down an escape ladder. One of those being rescued turned to look in the direction that Jim was watching from. They locked stares, an impossibility for a normal human at this distance. Without even trying Jim's sense of smell piggy-backed with his eyesight and he confirmed the scent which had been all over his Guide as the intruder. Instantly he knew he was looking into the eyes of the other sentinel Blair had described.

The other Sentinel's lips were moving and Jim zeroed in to hear what he was saying, "He is as good as mine, Sentinel." Jim watched as his mind superimposed the image of the scarred jaguar over the threat he was looking at and any doubts as to his identity were gone completely. He roared in anger, "Over my dead body!" He tightened his hold on Sandburg feeling the man at his rear reel back in surprise. Jim whipped out his cell phone and called Simon. Deep within the school's stairwell though he couldn't get a connection and shoved it back in his pocket. He would have to hope that the man didn't escape the notice of the officers waiting below.

"Jim, man what is it? What do you see?"

"I think I've found our ticket out of here, Chief. Just stick close to me." He moved forward quickly to the door and rescuers beyond. He reached his hand out to grasp the handle but stopped when he could sense the outrageously dangerous heat radiating off of the metal. He opened his senses to feel out beyond the door and was dismayed to detect the beginnings of a back draft waiting to be released. Despite Blair's protests he backed them away from the door.

"What are we waiting for?! That's our way out!"

Jim wrapped an arm around his best friend restraining him from opening the door. "There is a lethal backdraft building just behind that door, Chief." He looked up above them to the next flight of stairs and their best option of survival. Spinning the man in his arms around to face him he quickly asked, "What is on the next floor?"

The reluctance to give up on their chance of escaping through the door behind him was expressed clearly by Blair's internal struggle to heed his Sentinel's warning. He kept looking back over his shoulder at the second floor door. "But we-"

Jim shook Blair roughly trying to get the young man to pay attention. He knew it was deceiving; the appearance of calm on the other side of the doorway in the corridor beyond. But his senses had clearly warned him of the impending danger. "No! That way is not an option. Trust me."

That caught Blair's attention and he screwed his eyes shut tight to think. The smoke was thickening all around them and he was beginning to feel the effects of less oxygen on his mind. "There are labs up above us and access to the roof beyond there. Those windows are screened and barred off too, for animal containment though. Oh, Christ there are animals! Jim we can't just leave them there to die. We need to set them free."

He sent his senses out to canvas the floor above them for a human heartbeat and only found the few small animals mentioned. He extended them to the roof above and heard a very strong and steady heart beat belonging to someone older who seemed close to panicking. "There isn't time, Sandburg."

"You found him?" Blair watched Jim's eyes narrow, "He is scared and confused, Jim. Remember how you felt when your senses first came on line."

"What?!" Jim knew time was running out, but couldn't hold back the outburst that comment elicited from him. "The psycho destroyed a building trying to get to you and you are defending him?"

"And you slammed me into a wall if I remember correctly. What I guess I am trying to say is he went a little bonkers when I refused to help him with his senses. You probably would have too. We could just-"

"I'm a cop, Sandburg, first and foremost. Him being a Sentinel doesn't enter into it. I am going to deal with this guy in whatever way I need to keep you and others safe. "

Blair held his hands up in defense when he saw Jim's look of outrage, "Don't take offense, man. I just think you of all people can relate, albeit in a small way, to the way this guy is feeling right now. I don't want you to do something you will regret."

His jaw clenching, Jim couldn't waste any more time fighting Sandburg, he needed to keep his Guide out of this other Sentinel's grasp. The fear that Blair might even try to intervene with good intentions as the kid often did made his earlier rage well up again and he shook with the effort to control himself. "You know what? You're right I slammed you up against the wall and I am about this far away from doing it again," he motioned with his index finger and thumb in Blair's face, "if you so much as contact this guy or entertain the thought of helping him in some way. Do I make myself clear, Sandburg?" He punctuated the question with a series of rough pokes to the anthropologist's shoulder.

Blair shielded himself with his hand from further abuse, "Geeze man-"

"No, I asked if I made myself clear." Jim stepped into his partner's personal space. He could still smell Cooper's scent on his guide and it made Jim's mind reel with rage.

"Yes! All right, you made yourself clear," Sandburg said indignantly. If anything he thought Jim was acting even worse than he had with Alex. He shuddered at the memories she evoked and took a step back from his clearly stressed Sentinel. "Can we just get out of here now, Jim?" The response he was given was a low growl as Jim led the way up the stairs to the roof access door.

When they reached the roof Jim quickly tried his cell again and found that it now had a signal. He shoved it at his partner with the instructions to inform his fellow officers surrounding the building that they were on the roof and would need a rescue ladder. "Stay here, while I find out who else is up here." A hand on his forearm halted his movements. Ellison looked into the concerned eyes of his friend. "What?"

"Just be careful."

Some of the hardness in Jim's face softened and he nodded silently, before slipping around some huge air-handlers in search of the other heartbeat he had detected. He could feel the building beneath him heating up and see the smoke billowing up from all sides of the roof. He unholstered his gun and quickly made his way across the roof to the south end of the building where he found an old man sporting a nasty bruise along the left side of his face. The man was shouting down to the police and firemen below.

"You blasted incompetents! He is getting away! Blast it all! No, don't worry about me. Him, he set the place ablaze!" The old darkly tanned man was gesturing wildly in the direction of the parking lot and cursing the officials below. He didn't even notice as Jim came up along side him and gingerly tried to pull him away from the precarious ledge he was leaning over.

Jim glanced at the clothing the man wore easily recognizing the limited budget of an academic. "Mr. Stoddard?" The man beside him smelled like a spice pantry, but in a good sort of way. In fact Jim made the mental note that there was something very familiar about the way Eli smelled. Subconsciously he realized there was something very important he felt about this small discovery and a red flag went up in his mind.

"Huh?" Eli glanced dismissively at the detective beside him and then back down to the officials below. Recognition nearly gave him whiplash as he spun around and grasped Ellison desperately by both shoulders. "Inspector Ellison!"

The red flagged discovery was filed away for later. Jim was momentarily surprised by the deceptive strength the old man just like his young guide possessed. He smiled politely at the academic and moved them back and away from the edge.

"Tell me you found Blair, James." The man glanced around him in desperation searching Sandburg out.

"I got him, Eli. He's with me. " Jim called out over his shoulder that all was clear and watched as Blair came running up to them a moment later. He was grateful that for the moment he seemed to be following directions. His partner's discomfort with high places forgotten at the sight of the beloved mentor, Jim felt his shoulders released and barely moved out of the way before Blair rushed up to and engulfed the older man in a bear hug.

"Good lord, Blair. I was afraid he had found you. But then when I saw him escaping out of the building without you I feared the worst for you my boy." Jim watched as Blair's mentor cupped his hands to either side of the younger anthropologist's face as he spoke to him. He looked away to offer the two some semblance of privacy as they were reunited. He had know that Blair greatly respected this man but until now the full depth of their friendship had remained unknown to him. The two could easily have been mistaken as father and son. He could now see that this Stoddard individual cared just as much if not more for his roommate and Jim felt a twinge of jealousy blossoming in his stomach at the sight of the two. Almost unconsciously he dropped his hand onto his Guide's jacketed shoulder.

Sandburg examined the already deepening bruise on Eli's face and winced in sympathy. "I thought he had killed you. When I found him leaving your office with the book-I just knew you wouldn't let it out of your sight. I ran and bunkered down till Jim could get here."

The Sentinel's attention piqued at mention of 'the book'. He wondered whether they meant the Sentinel monograph. That didn't make sense to him though because Blair was in possession of that book and he never left the house with it anymore after the incident with Connor. It maintained its permanent residence hidden deep within the clutter of Blair's bedroom. Jim watched as Stoddard took a step back as though hit by some unseen force.

"My dear, The Book. He has it. This is most unfortunate, Blair." Eli turned to look down over the firefighters who were working on reaching their little group. His eyes glazed over as though his mind was far away, "It must be found. I am sorry lad. I never in this century would have imagined he would do such a thing. To think of the knowledge he now possesses..." The once resolute old man seemed to deflate right before Jim and Blair's very eyes.

As normal, Sandburg was quick to try to comfort, "There was no way we could have known, Professor. He played both of us."

Ellison cleared his throat loudly, "I hate to interrupt this heart warming reunion but will someone kindly fill me in here about what I've missed."

"Most assuredly Detective but at the risk of sounding rude that shall, I feel, have to wait until we have been rescued. Speaking of which here they are now."

All three men watched with eagerness as the firemen maneuvered the rescue ladder and its basket up to them. After what felt like an eternity they were individually brought down to the ground. Stoddard went first followed by Blair and then the Sentinel.

They were each wrapped in an orange shock blanket and examined by one of the paramedics at the scene. "His lungs have been compromised, Detective. After that stint in the fountain and now this smoke inhalation you are going to have to seriously pay close attention to any possible signs of an infection taking hold," one of the paramedics informed Jim. It was only through much wheedling on their part that they evaded a trip to the hospital.

Upon reaching safety Jim verified that Professor Stoddard's earlier shouted incriminations had in fact been true. The police and firefighters had failed to recognize that they had rescued and released the perpetrator of the campus fire and the assault on his partner, Sandburg. He had nearly bitten of his captain's head when the big black man had come over to personally deliver the unforgivable news. Apparently the man had somehow managed to evade close scrutiny by the officers and slipped away unnoticed. Ellison had seen the mixed emotions this news stirred within Blair. It was only through an act of divine restraint that Jim didn't shake his partner to within an inch of his life in an attempt to make him see reason. He could tell his guide was torn about his situation. It was as if the man couldn't say no when it came to someone in need. And while he knew this to be a good quality in his friend the possessive sentinel part of him construed this as an act of betrayal, a punishable offense.

Throughout the duration of the examination Blair had been withdrawn, only responding in monosyllables. Jim grew increasingly more agitated at the young man the longer he refused to communicate. He had just about given up on allowing the man time to assimilate the morning's events when Eli seemed to grasp his intentions and intervened.

"James, if I may have a word with you. You would humor this old man with a couple minutes of your time." Eli Stoddard hooked his hand around Jim's elbow and steered the Sentinel several paces away from Blair but still within sight of the young man. When he spoke it was in very low tones. "I know you are aware that I have the privilege of being among the few who review Blair's dissertation. Do you follow my meaning?" The old man stared intently at Jim as he asked this question, his eyes clearly conveying some hidden message.

The sentinel stiffened visibly beside the old man as the meaning of what he said clicked with him. His wide angry eyes reflexively sought out his Guide.

"Do not be so hasty to think ill of your friend, my young man. He has betrayed no confidences. I am simply an observant old man. Though truth be told even a daft individual could put two and two together and come to the same conclusions." Eli Stoddard heaved a heavy sigh as he looked over to where Blair was sitting on the tail gate of the ambulance they had been examined in. "You will recall the recent invitation to an expedition in Borneo I extended out to our young man over there, correct?" He waited for a response from Jim and continued on when he got a brief nod, "While down there I discovered another monograph by Burton. I say monograph when really it was little more than a personal journal. What is of great importance is that it described in great detail another visit to the same village where he had earlier studied the Sentinels. Only this time Burton focused his study on the role and duties of the companion. " Stoddard lowered his voice to a hushed whisper for what he wanted to share next, "Do you grasp the implications?" he saw the Sentinel frown in response and rolled his eyes. "Not just anyone can become a Sentinel, James. Understanding what I have read so far in this new book forces me to come to the same conclusions where the companion is concerned."

The light bulb went on and Ellison got it. He understood the gravity of what the older man was telling him instantly.

"Find that book Detective. The information it holds is vital I believe to your connection with each other as well as a companion's well being."

As all the implications of what he learned swirled through his mind he felt the need to return to his Guide's side overwhelm him. "Thank you, Professor," He started to walk back over to Blair while simultaneously sending his senses out to scan the immediate area around them. Everything made so much more sense now. Coopers attention towards his guide had been more than an attack on Jim's territory, the man wanted to take his Guide! Another thought occurred to him as he closed in on the distance between himself and Blair. Had Sandburg known Cooper wanted him as his Guide? He tried to dispel the negative thoughts. From what he had heard on the phone Blair had genuinely thought the man was out to kill him, like with Barnes. He stood next to the quiet young man and tugged at the blanket around his shoulders, "Let's hit the road, Chief, before I change my mind and let them cart you off to the hospital." When his roommate wasn't riled by the comment but simply let the blanket fall to the floor as he stood, Jim knew something was wrong. He steered the two of them over to the truck and opened the passenger door for Blair to climb in. He shut the door firmly after his partner buckled up and then leaned heavily against the door. He was coming down from the adrenaline rush his vision and the subsequent activities had supplied him with. Ellison welcomed the cool glass against his forehead...the hunt would have to wait for now. Now he just needed to get his Guide to the safety of the loft where no one else could touch him.


	3. Chapter 3

Blair had been lost in thought up till Jim rested his brow against his window. He didn't remember how or when he had made it from the ambulance to Jim's old ford but he found himself there now belted in and with a clearly exhausted partner just outside his door. He tapped the window gently, "Hey man want me to drive?"

Jim's smile to his partner was strained. He waved his offer off, "Thanks Kiddo, but all I need is for you and I to make it to the Loft, " mentally he added, 'And to get us there without me killing you.' "I need to get some R&R before we begin hunting down this psycho." He saw how the police observer winced at his description of the rival Sentinel and once again the irrational anger welled up within him. His guide had no right empathizing with the rouge Sentinel.

He walked around to the driver's side of the truck and taking a deep breath climbed into the cab with Blair. At some point during the rescue he had allowed the control he maintained on his sense of smell to slip. Now in such close proximity to his Guide, not to forget the scent of the intruder on him, he felt his nostrils flaring. He clutched desperately to the steering wheel and tried to calm his breathing. "We need to get you home and showered. I keep wanting to rip into you and I got to say I am pretty exhausted having to fight myself after the morning I have just had." A soft snort drifted over from the slumped form in the passenger seat beside him.

"You won't get an argument from me over here." Blair rolled down his window and motioned for Jim to do the same. "Can you manage to keep it dialed back till we get to the Loft?"

"Sure, but I'm not really certain I want to. We've already established I can't identify this guy in any unique way."

"That we know of yet, Jim."

"Fine, but scent, well now that I know it, I have a way to get a lock on this guy if he comes near us again, Chief." Jim could feel the makings of a migraine as he fought the desire to lash out.

"Fine, so long as you can keep from killing me between here and home."

"Sandburg I exercise that restraint on a daily basis."

" hah ha, very funny."

Jim slipped the key in the ignition and the engine turned over. He pulled the battered ford out of the campus parking lot and started them in the direction of home. The trip took considerably more time now that he was obeying traffic laws. By the time he pulled up outside their building Sandburg had passed out beside him. Jim used the car keys to poke the kid in the side deciding it might be best to refrain from any other type of physical contact.

"Yowch!"

"We're home, Sandburg." He hopped out of the truck and slammed the truck door shut behind him. An auditory scan of the building had him invading the privacy of their neighbors' homes while assuring himself that everyone in the building belonged there, and that they were not walking into some dangerous situation.

The noise the door had made brought Blair the rest of the way into the land of the living and he groaned as he climbed out of the cab feeling far too old for his age. "Bed," he mumbled longingly. He was asleep on his feet and so snagged hold of the edge of his partner's jacket to lead him into the building and onto the elevator. It was a trick he had learned as a child that allowed him to walk while keeping his eyes shut.

"Shower first. Then you can take a nap or do whatever." Jim was clutching the keys in his hand as tightly as he could. He could feel their metal ridges digging deep into the flesh of his palm. He was using the pain to keep himself focused. The scent of the other Sentinel mixed with his Guide's own sent was still so strong it made him see red. He stole a quick glance down to his side where Blair stood so trustingly. The kid had his eyes closed almost asleep on his feet. Every nerve in his body was screaming that his guide was now an intruder, more than that even a danger to his tribe.

It was barely perceptible but Blair could feel Jim stiffly shift away from him. "Dial it down. Homestretch." He didn't need to open his eyes to know the man would comply.

Jim shook his head in wonder at the sight. Blair knew the danger he was in standing beside him, yet he confidently chose to place his trust in the very same individual who had not more than an hour before been on the verge of snapping his neck. If he stopped to think about it he didn't feel he deserved that level of trust from Blair. It was with great shame though, that he happily accepted and at times demanded so much from him, realizing within himself that he still continued to withhold his own trust.

Blair swayed at Jim's side for a time before puffy eyes cracked open to find they were still in the elevator and that neither of them had progressed any further than the lobby. "Umm, button, Jim."

Startled out of his thoughts of 'do not harm, do not harm,' Ellison sprung forward and pressed the button for the third floor. He heard the light chuckle at his side and growled in warning. The elevator surged upward with a jerky start and before he knew it he was striding purposefully to the front door with Blair in tow. Out of habit he scanned inside the loft before slipping his keys inside and opening the door once all was clear.

The moment he walked inside Jim felt the urge to attack intensify ten fold. "Shower," he growled out through clenched teeth. He stepped aside to allow Blair into their home feeling the hairs rise all over his body. "Now."

"Sure thing, Jim. Just let me-" Whatever else Blair had planned to say was cut off as he was abruptly lifted off his feet and forcibly carried straight into the bathroom. "Wha-Shoot! No. Jim, No! Give me a second to get out of these clothes." He couldn't believe what his roommate was doing and so he struggled to cling to the doorframe of the bathroom as they went past.

Enough was enough. The intruder's scent was now in his home and it was taking all he had to keep himself from killing his guide. Blair clearly underestimated the danger he was in. With what might have seemed like effortless super human strength Ellison pulled Blair off the door jamb and pushed aside the shower curtain. He unceremoniously dumped his Guide in the tub and started turning the cold-water knob on. He flipped the lever for the shower on.

"Holy Crap. That's cold! Jim stop! Stop!" Blair screamed trying to clamber out of the stream of water. He was grabbing at anything and everything he could to get himself out. The shower curtain was ripped down as well as the towel bar. His sneakers squeaked and slipped on the porcelain interior and he felt himself caught by his clothes in a vice like grip and shoved more fully under the shower. Within seconds he was shivering as his clothes quickly soaked up the frigid water chilling him through to the bone. "jjj-jjiiim?" his teeth chattered uncontrollably, "wheee f-finishshshed mmmann?"

Sandburg looked up at Ellison and the steely determination his facial features were etched with. It was, for lack of a better description, a zone out but one unlike any Blair had ever been privy to. He wasn't dealing with his best friend any longer. Once they had passed the threshold of the loft Jim had apparently reverted back to his instinctive primal self. He realized sadly that there would be no reasoning with his Sentinel yet. No longer struggling against the indecent treatment, he submitted to the older man who was emptying out the entire bottle of shampoo over his head and clothes. The researcher in him made a mental note that the Sentinel in his current state elected to use his own soap and not the product Blair normally used. He grimly clenched his eyes shut in anticipation of the embarrassing scrubbing to come.

"Wash." It was a detached order.

Blair didn't hesitate to act lest his Sentinel change his mind and he'd commence with that as well. His eyes shot open to see Jim standing back arms firmly crossed over his chest, somberly standing guard. It felt a bit like being part of the washing machine load as he scrubbed the soap over flesh and clothes alike. The more suds and foam he created the more he observed Jim's tenseness ebbing away, until finally the Sentinel curtly nodded his head and then disappeared out into the loft. Blair was left numb and alone under the icy onslaught of water rinsing away any traces of the man his best friend was reacting to. He hadn't even realized he had closed his eyes until he felt the water being turned off and a hand guiding him out of the shower.

"Come on out, Chief."

His best friend had apparently returned to his old self on his own and for this Sandburg was all the more grateful as the ordeal had left him bereft of all energy. "Fffeellnnnn bbbtrrr?" his answer was a subtle nod, "gggooood." He went about peeling off the cold clothes from off himself, " cuz nnnow c-can kkkick yrrrrr butt." He smacked away the hand that tried to help him with his clothes and opted to retain some semblance of dignity.

It was an immense relief to Jim that Blair could make a joke about what he had just done to the younger man. He hoped Blair could explain and understand his behavior because he himself couldn't and frankly it was scaring the crap out of him. He was torn between giving the young man his space and helping out since he could see Blair's fingers were numb from the cold and having difficulty getting undressed. He set the large Cascade P.D. sweatshirt, sweatpants, and towel he had brought for his roommate on the vanity top and walked out of the bathroom to stand just outside the closed door. It was close enough to respond quickly if Blair caved in for help but it afforded him his privacy. Jim never got the chance as a few minutes later a very exhausted Guide shuffled out of the bathroom wearing the dry warm clothes he had brought him.

Pausing to decide where to head to, his room or the couch, Blair had the question answered for him when Jim steered him straight for the couch in the living room. "Tea, please," he asked hopefully.

Normally Jim would have made some wise crack remark and told the young man to get it himself but this was not a normal situation and he was obligated to comply. Silence reigned in the loft while he moved around the kitchen making the requested beverage and Blair warmed up on the couch. The fog that had shrouded his mind since stepping into the loft was slowly lifting and the strong aroma of valerian tea he was steeping for Blair was aiding in ridding the loft of any residual odors they had brought with them. When he felt the liquid had steeped long enough and could safely be transported across the house he mustered up the courage for the impending barrage of questions he was sure Sandburg had ready for him and headed over to the couch.

Blair was nestled into the farthest corner of the sofa looking out across the city with a blank expression on his face. Jim set the mug of tea on the coffee table in front of its recipient and went to sit across from Blair in one of the overstuffed chairs.

Blair didn't notice Jim set the drink down before him or cross the room and sit down. He didn't noticed the drawn out silence as they both sat in the living-room absorbed in thought until several hours had passed and it was already dusk. What he did realize was that by the time his dry mouth became insistent enough to compel him to search for the requested tea it was already ice cold. He gulped half of it down.

From across the table Jim's quite voice broke the stillness of the evening making Blair jerk in response and slosh the tea onto the couch."I was beginning to think you might have slipped into your own version of a zone out, Chief."

"Sorry. Just have a lot on my mind." With the hem of the large sweatshirt Blair mopped up the mess.

"Care to let me in on what some of that might be?" Ellison's genuine concern was met with downcast eyes and tight lips. He leaned forward in his seat resting his elbows on his knees as he considered how to proceed. "Look Sandburg, I've been sitting here quite frankly surprised with the sudden 180 degree turn your normal M.O. has taken. Now I was more than glad to give you some time to meditate or whatever it is you do, but don't you think it's about time we talked about this?"

Blair heaved a tremendous sigh as a multitude of questions swarmed his mind. Should Jim be reacting so severely to this man's presence? Could there be something they were doing wrong that kept allowing these things to happen? Would the violence Jim had felt directed toward him continue or escalate? Jim had thrown him out of the loft once already, thank you very much, he really had no desire to give the man cause to do so again. He was so lost in thought it took a moment for him to realize that Jim had restated the question.

"...talk about this?"

"No, not at all." He shook his head adamantly. The questions just kept coming. Why did his friend choose to forgo grabbing some of Blair's own clothes from his room not five feet away from the restroom? Why instead did Jim climb the stairs to his own room, which had clearly been out of his way, to fetch his own clothes? Not to mention why had he chosen to bring him a used, as in not clean, set of clothes to wear? He rolled his eyes, 'Yeah, like I don't get razzed enough for all this sentinel stuff as it is.' As he fingered the edge of the sweatshirt he was wearing, he couldn't hold back his slightly hysterical chuckle. The sweatshirt, like the pants, belonged to Jim. 'Well you see, big guy, it seems like you are trying to mark me as your property and part of your territory. Just some more primal cave man garbage. Hah!' He couldn't even meet his friend's eyes. "There are only so many things a guy can deal with and I have to say I am at my limit for today, Jim."

Jim picked up on his Guide's reluctance to discuss his thoughts with him and understood perfectly how the young man felt. "Any other time junior I would agree with you one hundred percent. You know me, I'm the king of denial." Jim stood up and crossed the living room to sit down beside his roommate on the couch obviously startling his roommate. He waited till he had eye contact before continuing, "but the last time I had a vision like this and there was another Sentinel you ended up-"

"Dead."

Jim deflated, "I can't let that happen again, Chief. I mean look at what I already did to you just because I can't control this. All I could think of was tearing you apart since the moment I smelled Cooper on you. Do you realize how close to hurting you I came when you walked into the loft?! " He scrubbed his hands over his face wishing that their friendship was not already so strained so that discussing these things wouldn't be quite as uncomfortable. "Please Sandburg, I know there are some weird things going on with us and this, but you always seem to understand this Sentinel stuff."

The fact that his friend was willing to bare his emotions this freely made refusing his offer to talk nigh impossible in Blair's mind. His voice was thick with apprehension as he resigned himself for what was to come, "Fine. Tell me about the vision, Jim. We can deal with the shower thing afterwards. And don't hold anything back no matter how trivial it might seem to you."

Jim saw his opportunity and took it. "Will you also tell me what's so important about this new book." He watched the crystal blue eyes narrow suspiciously.

"Eli has already talked to you." 'Crap.'

"He seems to think it is really important to us." He waited patiently as the young man mulled over this.

"Fine. Vision, Book, Shower discussed in that order." Blair knew Jim was not oblivious to the strategic order in which he had chosen to deal with the subjects. He had no desire to talk about the reasons for Jim's odd behavior over him. Considering everything that had transpired so far it was highly unlikely that they would still have energy to discuss it, or so he hoped. He grinned.

Jim saw Blair's smile and realized the obfuscation for what it was. He quickly amended, "Thanks Chief I don't care how long this takes I really want us on the same page." He watched the smile on Sandburg's face fall and knew he had read his friend correctly.

Defeated Blair nodded his head. With what felt like an inordinate effort he pulled his legs up and under himself to sit cross legged facing Jim who had taken up sitting at the other end of the couch with him. He took a moment to still his hectic thoughts in preparation for absorbing everything Jim was going to tell him. "All right, I am ready."

It never failed that even after he had already committed himself to do something he would suddenly feel an unhealthy dread of following through with it. 'Suck it up, Ellison,' he commanded himself. "It started as I was walking into the kitchen to make lunch. I had this sensory spike that almost brought me to my knees." Just the memory alone brought a shudder to his entire body. "For a moment I expected to find myself in the blue jungle but it turned out to be like that time at your office with Barnes. I was still in the loft seeing the vision. There were these noises coming out of your room, sounds of a wolf like it was pissed off and really defensive. When I went closer to inspect the wolf in your room then I noticed a black jaguar at your doorway peering into your room obviously interested in the sounds coming out of there."

"Was it your spirit guide?"

"No, I thought that at first but then it turned to look at me and I saw it had these angry inflamed claw marks across its face. I stood there frozen to my spot. You know the kind of fear you get in nightmares when you know something horrible is about to happen but there isn't a damn thing that you can do about it? That's what it was like. I watched this Jaguar rush into your room and heard it attack the wolf. There were the sounds of a fight, followed by silence when I thought it had killed the wolf. Thankfully a second later it came out of your room with a wolf pup in its jaws. Then it just walks out of the loft taking the pup with it. That's when my Jaguar roars and I can see it up in my room looking down at me accusingly and then he disappears too. Not a second later you called."

"Whoa okay...well obviously this is different than last time," Blair carded his fingers through his hair, his eyes widened as he thought about what Jim had just shared with him. It bothered him that these visions he kept having seemed to revolve around him being separated from his Sentinel. "This is good, or at the least better than last time," he said with a nervous chuckle.

"How do you make that leap, Sandburg?"

"One, you were not the one attacking me, and two, at least I wasn't dying in this one. Easily any vision where you are not killing me is a good one. Everyone dies man, sure I don't want to die anytime soon but as long as its as a result of protecting or helping you I am pretty certain I would be okay with it. All that aside this dream had my spirit guide attacked but not killed. See? Good."

"What does it mean, though, your spirit guide turning into a pup?"

"There isn't some grand book of translation, Jim. Everything is pure conjecture here but babies and infants in dreams often mean new beginnings, innocence, helplessness or vulnerability, and in some cases loss of control. Actually, there are tons of things it can mean. But considering the context and what has already happened I think it would be safe to assume one of these things. Couple that with what happened immediately afterwards and I feel confident that you were being warned another Sentinel was coming after your Guide." He watched the mans lips curl back in a growl. The reaction was oddly heartwarming as it meant he still came under the territory of his Blessed Protector.

"Did you have any clue this guy wanted you to be his Guide, Chief? I mean before all this stuff happened today." Ellison knew he had said the wrong thing the second the question passed his lips. How it sounded, the way he asked the question had not been how he had intended. Once again the filter between his brain and mouth seemed to be malfunctioning. He clenched his fist at his side wishing he could retract it. "I didn't mean-"

Blair bristled at the implication and had to count to ten before he could respond, 'This is Jim, Mister I-never-learn-from-my-fear-based-responses himself. Keep cool, do not respond with sarcasm.' "Initially when he wanted my help I turned him down. As a result I thought that upset him to the point of trying to kill me but apparently he had only asked out of politeness. He had no intention of taking no for an answer. He told me as much when he finally caught me." Blair rolled his eyes throwing his arms out wide. "There I was panicking about dying again at the hands of another psychotic Sentinel and he starts laughing as he pulls out this needle. He had a backup ready Jim, in case I turned him down. He was never going to kill me, he was planning on abducting me." He steepled his finger against his mouth, a deeply thoughtful look coming over his face. "This guy failed to fulfill the vision, Jim. I think that means you reacted in time to the warning. We can probably relax."

"I don't know Chief, last time it all came true." Jim was not reassured in the least.

"This isn't last time, Jim."

"Well then what about the way I reacted to you after you had come in contact with Cooper. Why did I want to rip your head off? And why did it feel like I was being shocked with a strong electrical current every time I touched you?" While they had been sitting quietly each lost in their own thoughts Jim had been going over his reaction to Blair back at Hargrove hall. He could now clearly remember things he had noticed but dismissed in the heat of the moment.

"Say that again." Blair's head whipped up to look at him in shock with the mention of the electrical current.

"It felt like I was being shocked with a strong electrical current every time I touched you?" Jim's brow creased with a frown.

"That's right! I can't believe I forgot that when you had me pinned in the stairwell. Oh crap, that same thing happened the first time I met Cooper, Jim! It was how he knew who I was. The second he grabbed my wrist there was this sharp current that flowed through us." Blair's eyes glazed over as he considered this information. "Why did this have to start manifesting now?" he said more to himself in a whisper than to his roommate. "Have you ever felt this before when I would try to ground you for your senses." And then in an almost hopeful tone of voice, " or with anyone else?"

Ellison shook his head no. Jim could tell that this development had pulled his friend free from the fear and reluctance to discuss matters he had been struggling with. The curiosity of the Anthropologist had been too strong a pull to keep him withdrawn for long. Jim smiled looking at the carefully concealed excitement Blair radiated now. He could tell he was thinking back through all of their time together in search of this having happened before. Time to redirect and focus his partner's energies. "First things first, Chief. Why don't you tell me what happened today starting with after you left the Loft. We are going to have to figure out what to edit out for the police statement Simon wants you to give tomorrow anyway. Then we can figure out what the tingling feeling means, Kay?" Rising from his spot on the couch Jim retrieved a couple of beers from the kitchen. Collapsing back down into the couch he handed one over to Blair.

Blair accepted the beer and flashed Jim a weak smile as thanks. "I think if I am going to get into the details of what happened today I would first like to preface it with how Eli and I came to know Andrew Cooper. Would you mind?" Some of the anxiety he felt disappeared when he saw his friend's head nod in understanding.

Blair started peeling the label of his bottle of beer as he tried to carefully examine his choice of words. "A while back when Professor Stoddard began his expedition in Borneo the University lost contact with him for a few months right before the team's visas were supposed to expire; apparently several of the interns along with Eli contracted some rare disease. When they were found they were all delirious and had to have a medical expert from London fly in to treat them. The specialist's name was Andrew Cooper." Blair felt a shiver run down his spine. He had spoken so many times to the intelligent man over the phone. Never once did he suspect the physician capable of anything that he had perpetrated this morning. He rose from his spot on the couch to stand over by the balcony overlooking the bay. Taking a few deep breaths helped him to strengthen his resolve.

Jim watched Blair's face as he told his story and though he was more interested in the events surrounding today's craziness; he realized interrupting Sandburg's flow of thought might be detrimental to getting the police observer to be open about the morning's incident.

"They were fortunate that Cooper was as skilled as he was. It was touch and go there for a while and I spent quite a few mornings talking with And-Dr. Cooper about Eli over the phone in between classes at the University." He didn't really feel embarrassed over having befriended the doctor but worried he might anger Jim with this information.

Blair walked back into the loft and set his empty bottle of beer down on the coffee table. He dropped onto the couch sitting Indian style so he could face Jim at the other end of the couch. He saw Jim take note of his blatant disregard for the house rules but choose not to call him out on it. "Eli's delirium was more severe than the other researchers and frequently I was called upon to try to calm Eli over the phone or reason with him. Eventually everyone recovered, though Eli was forced to remain in Borneo for longer to recover enough before he was allowed to be discharged and cleared for air travel." Blair smiled fondly as he recalled the mentor's angry rants at being singled out among the infirm because of his advanced age. "Even while he was recovering he kept right on working. He insisted on going over the progress I had made with my dissertation and we spoke about the various anthropological references to Sentinels he had unearthed at some of his excavation sites. We had no reason to think Andrew would be paying close attention to our discussions or that he had any interest in the information. As far as I was aware he had only inquired about the validity of Sentinels because he was concerned about possible damage to Eli's mind while he was delirious. I assured him that Eli was in fact not insane but that some of the stuff he had been shouting out at various hospital staff was in fact ancient historical fact. I swear I never mentioned Sentinels existing today." Now that Blair had come to a comfortable place to stop his narration and allow Jim to ask any questions he may have, his hands which had been gesturing wildly suddenly stilled.

Ellison decided nothing good could come of him hounding Sandburg over any perceived wrongs that had happened in the past. "While you were being attended to by the paramedics Eli pulled me over to talk about the Book you guys think that Cooper stole."

Sandburg visibly relaxed, "Yeah, the Book." He cast his eyes all over the living room in the normal way in which he dealt with uncomfortable topics of discussion. "Before I explain anymore you need to understand in the past before I met you Eli would help me locate case studies of people with one or two heightened senses. If he got word of someone he would funnel the information to me. Kind of like the way I met you through the T.A. I was tutoring."

Jim watched the hopeful and expectant look on his best friend's face and knew he needed reassurance that he believed him. "Sandburg, I am beginning to come to the realization that where you are concerned all motives and intentions are purely innocent at heart, and I believe the same to be true of your mentor as well, the problem seems to stem from the fact that you are a psycho magnet. It can't be helped." He reached out patronizingly to pat his friend's knee and smiled when Blair smacked his hand away.

"Like your one to talk, big guy." Blair's feelings of relief allowed him to continue on with his story. "Apparently, after Stoddard returned to the states he had to take a few months off for some family affairs. When he returned to work a couple months back Dr. Cooper calls him. Says he just got a patient back home with similar symptoms to what he had overheard us describing, some guy had been trapped in the rubble from a terrorist bombing for six days before rescuers found him practically catatonic. Professor Stoddard had no reason to think anything ill of him, Jim. He shared everything he knew with Andrew and insisted that though he had a wealth of information it paled in comparison to my apparent expertise in that area. Professor Stoddard was convinced by Cooper that this patient was barely getting by with the use of the drug suppressants that had been prescribed to him and that he needed to consult with me so that he could aide in his patient's recovery. Eli confided in me about his correspondence with Andrew and asked if I would collaborate with the specialist about how to best help this patient of his. "

Jim watched as his roommate's hands that were usually gesturing wildly were clutched in his lap suddenly. It was so easy to read the kids emotions in his body language. For instance, the wringing hands in his lap told Jim that Blair felt very guilty over what he was about to say next and perhaps just a bit uncertain. "Go on."

"I told Eli I couldn't help anymore than he had." Blair dropped his head and his shoulders slumped forward. "Its not that I didn't want to but after Alex I had this bad taste in my mouth when it came to offering out help. I just kept thinking how you might react if you found out and I didn't even have the guts to bring it up to you to see if I could get your okay on it." No longer feeling unsure about himself Blair jumped off the couch ran to the kitchen and got two more beers for them to drink. He ran back into the living-room seconds later offering one to Jim who took it gratefully, though he decided on pacing in front of the couch as he told the rest of his story.

"The problem was that when the Prof conveyed the message to Andrew he wouldn't take no for an answer. He had listened in on enough of our discussions when Eli was convalescing to realize that a vital part of the Sentinel thriving was tied up with the companion who helped them. He wanted all the information I had uncovered through my research too. He demanded Eli give him my contact info. He asked to be sent copies of the journal Eli had discovered on his last expedition. Up until that point Eli had not felt anything was off about his inquiries. Even Eli himself felt it was too personal for Cooper to have that information so he refused."

"Smart old man," Jim muttered around the mouth of his beer bottle.

"Unfortunately, that had been the last straw for Andrew. He must have hunted down my information through the University some other way, cause this morning when I headed in to have my classes and later my meeting with Professor Stoddard I find the guy in my office. And he is like sniffing all my stuff, it was so crazy."

As Jim watched Blair explain what happened, he could only quietly marvel at how good a storyteller Blair was. He wondered if it was as a result of his studying Anthropology or due to his being a Shaman. Whatever had influenced it he was always secretly pleased to be the recipient of one of his accounts though if confronted he would flat out deny it. Although what he was learning now was nowhere near as pleasant a topic. He puzzled over what his partner was telling him. "That's when you knew he was a Sentinel?"

"You would think so but, nope. I can't believe how dense I was looking back now. I've never met him face to face, so like, I don't know who it is at the time. What I do know is being with cops so much has made me leery of certain behavior and I hesitated going inside my office. Hoping I hadn't been noticed I high-tailed it to Eli's office to wait for him to arrive. More than a little put off by the whole incident when it dawns on me: The sniffing, I had seen that same stance a thousand times, only it was you who was doing it and a few times Alex and suddenly I just know, you know. Whoever this guy is he's a Sentinel and he can use his senses to some extent. I start backpedalling out of there so fast, I leave a note for Eli and run down to storage where I knew Eli kept the white noise generator. I was returning to his office when I saw Andrew arguing with Eli in the hallway outside his office. I ducked into a supply closet and watched as they disappeared inside. There were some loud crashing noises a few moments later that froze me to my spot. And that is when I turned the generator on and waited for Andrew to leave. He did so a few minutes later with Eli's book in his hand and then he started sniffing down the hallway to the storage room where I had been and I gotta tell you in that instant I was blissfully aware of the fact that it was only the strong chemical smells in the closet with me that masked my scent from him and saved me being caught. I waited for him to get further away before risking an escape. I only made it a few steps out of the closet before I realized he had doubled back and was quietly coming up behind me. When I turned to confront him you could tell he was peeved. He reached out and grabbed my wrist and that's when the thing happened Jim! This fire ignites where his skin is touching mine. My jaw must have dropped; it felt like he was leaching energy out of me! Back in the office as he was using his senses his face had been contorted in pain the way you get with a sensory spike. The lines of pain that had been etched into his face were gone the moment he touched me. It was the craziest thing. He knew then Jim. He knew what I was and that I could help him. He begged me to come back with him to London and as he spoke I finally recognized the voice as Cooper's. I got so angry because that meant he had lied to us. There was no patient; it had been him all along. I shook my head no I wasn't going to help him and then, god help me, I reached out and pulled the fire alarm. He went down hard. There was such a look of betrayal on his face man, he was enraged and I ran, I figured he was going to kill me for refusing to help him. With him incapacitated for the time being I found a place to hide and called you." With a flourish he collapsed back down onto the couch relieved to have finished this part of his explanations and shamefully hopeful that Jim would forget to inquire about the other things that had transpired today.

Jim swallowed heavily. He had no idea how he was going to avoid mentioning the Sentinel aspects of this case in his reports. Simon was going to have a field day over this one. "This information means Cooper probably has no contacts out here besides the two of you so he will most likely be staying in a hotel somewhere. That's where we will start our search tomorrow, kiddo." Jim glanced over his shoulder to the clock on the kitchen wall. It was nearing nighttime. The loft was already painted in rusty oranges and deep yellows as the sun set lower on the horizon. He heard the gurgle of his Guides empty stomach and felt the echoing rumble of his own. They still had a lot more talking to do and was honest enough with himself to know if they paused here he might never have the courage or chance to pick up where they had left off in their conversation.

Blair had picked up on their need for food and decided this would be the opportunity he needed to get Jim to give up on discussing anymore of the more uncomfortable Sentinel issues at hand. "I'm feeling famished here man maybe we could call it quits for now and go pick up some take out. There's that little Chinese place a few blocks from here that you like. I could go get some grub for us?"

Jim knew the tactic but decided not to let on that he was aware of what Blair was hoping to achieve. He shook his head no, "I was actually more in the mood for that deli down the street. You know the one you had Saturday but then got called away to the University and I ended up eating the rest. For health food that stuff was pretty tasty. What was it you ordered? It tasted Asian."

Blair relaxed believing his distraction to have worked, "It was a peanut Thai wrap with wheat grass. I'll have to keep that in mind, its not every day we find something you like to eat that isn't coated in several layers of batter or dripping grease." He watched as Jim nodded his head in agreement and rose from the couch heading to the front door. "If you just give me a couple of minutes Jim, I can throw something on and go with you to pick it up." He saw Jim wave him on and so he jumped from the couch and ran to his room. Quickly finding some clean pants he took off the the sweats Jim had supplied him with and started slipping his own jeans on. He decided to keep the sweatshirt on since it was so warm and he still felt a bit chilled after his impromptu trip into the shower. He was just pulling on some warm socks when he hopped out of his room to find Jim putting the handset back on the receiver. He looked like a fish out of water for a minute,"Wha-"

Jim smiled across the kitchen, clapping his hands together once and then rubbing them vigorously. "I went ahead and had them deliver it that way we can finish talking about this book and well why I felt like throttling you earlier; obvious reasons not withstanding. Beside you are already chilled and the tempature is dropping faster by the minute. There is no point in risking you getting any colder." He was talking too much and it was a sign that he felt guilty.

"But I wanted to go out." Blair felt his breathing and pulse quicken. A nervous feeling began to settle in the pit of his stomach.

"I know but I said we would get this all out in the open even if it took all night," Ellison smirked knowing he had caught his roommate, "and well I'd rather it didn't take that long to be honest." He moved forward towards Blair who was beginning to vibrate with barely restrained anger. He inhaled and noticed the anxiety rolling off Blair in waves. "Sandburg, you always want to talk about this stuff. What gives?" He honestly didn't expect the volatile reaction his question evoked.

"I'll tell you what gives-You!" Blair ran his hands through his hair compulsively. The survival response of fight or flight was beginning to take hold of him. "What gives you the right to demand we talk about this? I mean you of all people. You hypocrite!" He was pacing the length of the dining room in front of Jim. "Well guess what, that's not how it works, Jim. If you have the right to clam up and pretend things haven't happened then so do I."

Jim held his hands up in a placating gesture. He slowly approached Blair as though he was some type of spooked wild animal. It was true most of the guys at Major Crimes joked that Jim was extremely dense, usually he purposely encouraged that impression of himself. The reality was in fact much sadder than the truth. It was purely lazy selfish cowardice which kept him feigning oblivion where others' emotions were involved. He knew that today had dredged up many unresolved emotions for the young grad student. He only hoped he could successfully navigate this mine field of his own creation. "You always insist that we talk things through, Sandburg. I was just trying to offer my help."

Blair laughed nervously, "Oh that's rich, man, rich! Back when I needed to talk, vent, or understand what had happened to me then it was all: 'Chief, I don't know if I am ready to take that trip with you' and then I'm expected to drop it. Taboo subject for conversation." He wasn't aware he was walking backward trying to put space between Jim as the detective approached him. "Now when its convenient to you and your investigation then its lets all talk about what happened today." His body bumped up against the loft wall and his eyes briefly widened in panic as the outlet for his nervous energy was no longer available to him. He quickly tried to conceal his feelings from being broadcasted across his face. "Don't come any closer."

Ellison hesitated his forward progress. This had been building for a while now. "I was wrong, Sandburg. I realize that now. Maybe if I had allowed us to discuss what happened then we might have been better prepared for today." He watched as his confession produced the desired effects. Blair became much less defensive. Jim edged closer to his upset Guide. "Thing is Darwin I really am trying here. Thick as a brick James Ellison is finally starting to get it. We don't have the option of bottling it up. Isn't that what you tried to explain to me before?" His words seemed to make Blair even more despondent. "I don't see what you are so afraid of telling me."

"I keep giving of myself for this friendship and Sentinel thing, Jim. I'm tired and running out of energy. This is me caving in! We can just catch him or do whatever you want and that will be good enough, I swear. Just please, don't make me talk about this."

When Blair looked up the spark and fire that always shone from his eyes was gone and it made Jim shudder to see the damage he had purposely been ignoring all these months. 'Right. Enough is enough.' He couldn't reach Blair this way. He stopped and took a step back thinking of what Blair would do if their roles were reversed. "Stay right there." Jim spun around, made his way around the dining table and entered Blair's room beneath the stairs. He started rummaging through his things in search of a pen and notepad of paper.

Blair was confused at first when he saw Jim head into his room but when he started hearing the sounds of the man going through his things his heart clenched in his chest. 'He's kicking me out.' He doubled over as a massive panic attack seized him and his eyesight started to go grey around the edges. He felt his lungs burn with the need for air but his chest was tight and hurt and though he was hyperventilating he felt like he couldn't actually breath. He reached out for something to lean against but before he knew it he was falling to his knees on the hardwood floor his fingers missing the arm of the a dining chair. Jim was throwing him out again. He had screwed up again. In trying not to freak his partner out with the more mystical side of this Sentinel stuff he had pissed him off. The outlook seemed so bleak without his Sentinel and friend that suddenly not breathing paled by comparison. His hand was clutching his chest as he tried to drag in a deeper breath of air. He collapsed the rest of the way to the floor, curling in on himself.

Jim finally found the sought after pen and paper. He quickly wrote down what he wanted to convey to Sandburg and then signed and dated it. 'There,' He heard a soft thud and his nose caught a whif of something that sent red flags up instantly. He sniffed the air. Long ago Blair had taught him that some emotions when triggered produced a certain scent only associated with that emotion, what he could sense from Blair right now was fear, anxiety, and panic all rolled into one. His first thought was that Cooper had somehow got into the loft. His hearing automatically scanned the perimeter of the loft for any other heartbeats other than his and Blair's but found none. He drew his gun and ran out of the bedroom when he detected his Guide's erratic and frantic heartbeat. He stood in the center of their home gun drawn, still cautious of any danger, and feared his senses had been misled when Blair was nowhere in sight. Then he heard wheezing breaths and holstering his gun he ran over to the foot of the stairs to find the kid lying curled on the floor behind the dining table in a full blown panic attack. "Jesus! Blair!" Jim ran to the kitchen snatched up the small paper bag full of donuts, upending them on the counter and ran back to drop to his knees by Sandburg's side.

Blair felt something placed over his mouth and held there. 'Paper bag,' he realized belatedly. He blinked up at Jim and saw the worry there on his face. It was bittersweet but nice to know he cared that much at the least. Soon enough his breathing evened out a little and he shoved the bag aside to apologize to his roommate. "sorry," he murmured rolling onto his back grateful for the support the floor offered him.

"Jesus." He sighed wearily and rubbed the perspiration from his brow with his forearm. "This can wait till tomorrow."

"I can do it by myself in the morning, Jim. Don't worry about it."

"Sure-Wait. What?"

"Well if you insist you can help but there really isn't all that much to pack anymore. Most of its still in storage."

"What in the world are you talking about?!"

"Moving. I- you ran off to my room and I-well I screwed up again, I thought you were fed up with me refusing to talk...and you'd had enough." The confusion on Sandburg's face was genuine. "I didn't think you'd want to pack it all up on your own again."

"You thought I was kicking you out of the loft? Tonight?!" Jim rocked back on his heels as the full impact of the misunderstanding finally registered to him. 'Dear Lord, he's lost all his confidence and trust in our friendship,' he thought to himself. He had underestimated the emotional damage the ordeal with Alex had wreaked. They both had been through a traumatic experience but the wounds had been left to fester for far too long. There had been no reassurances made that those mistakes wouldn't be allowed to happen again. He had lost Blair's trust and faith. "I went into your room to grab some stuff to write with, Chief." He made sure to establish eye contact before he spoke again, "Here if you need proof. I wanted to get through to you that you didn't have to be afraid of talking about anything with me."

Blair looked at the folded piece of paper extended out to him. Hesitantly he reached out and grabbed it. He opened it and what he read in Jim's neat script brought tears to his eyes. The obsurdity of what was written compelled him to retread it aloud. "I, James Joseph Ellison do attest that I willfully and without duress bequeath Blair Jacob Sandburg the deed to 805 Prospect Ave also known as our home or 'the loft' as his permanent residence. Nothing he can say or do will ever be justifiable cause for eviction as from this date forward he is the owner of these premises and all that entails. Cpt. James J. Ellison. December 4th, 1998."

"I did not go in your room to pack your things. I figured that this fear of yours might be why you were pulling your punches with me lately." Jim rubbed an unsteady hand over his neck. "I will never do that again to you Blair, no matter what mistakes either of us make. This is your home, Kid. Just as much as it is mine." He waited to see if his words had reached through to his friend.

"Well great now I feel like an idiot." There were tears falling from Sandburg's eyes as he smiled up at his friend. He hastily swiped at them trying to compose himself. God he felt like had had been put through an emotional wringer today. He started to sit up and was abruptly pulled into Jim's arms for a near bone-crushing hug.

"I won't get mad Blair at what you might say. It's a given this stuff falls into the weird realm of Sentinel shit that we don't have a hold of quite yet." Ellison was talking into the mane of curls tucked safely under his chin. He could read the hesitancy in Blair's body still.

"You have no idea."

"Then help me understand, Sandburg." Jim wasn't sure that Eli would have approved of his methods of getting Blair to open up about what went down today. But while his methods could be termed suspect he was awash with relief that they had the desired affect. He held Blair close to him relishing the awkward embrace. This young man was the little brother he had always wanted Stephen to be. He shuddered to think of how poorly he had treated their friendship in the last few months and how close he had come to driving away yet another person he cared for. "We can fix this Blair. It'll take time but I promise not to dismiss this Sentinel thing again. Okay Sandburg?"

He felt the small nod against his chest.

Blair sheepishly pulled away form the rare display of affection to sit at arms length from his roommate. He was not oblivious to the effort it had taken the normally stoic Ellison to express himself as he had. Feeling like the pressure building in his chest had lessened Blair smiled up at his friend for what was probably the first time in quite a while. "Thanks Jim. That means a lot to me big guy."

"Yeah well I better not find out you told any of the guys back at the bullpen about this."

"I hate to be the one to inform you but the whole precinct knows what a big softie you really are. Who do you think you're fooling?"

Jim snagged the overly long sweatshirt sleeve and pulled Blair back towards him to deal out the appropriate punishment for not respecting the chain of command. He had the young man in a headlock despite his protests and he mercilessly noogied his unruly head of curls. He had just about brought his roommate to capitulation when there were two loud and persistent gurgling noises from the both of them respectively. "That delivery should be arriving soon."

Blair scrambled free of his grip and stood up, "Good idea, because if you are going to hear my theories I want you to be a happy full Sentinel, not some hungry pissed off bear." He offered his had down to help Jim get up off the floor.

Ellison took the hand and looked up into the familiar eyes of his best friend; they were happier than he had seen them in quite a while. For the first time as he rose to his feet he felt things were truly going to be okay and that their partnership was finally getting back on track.


	4. Chapter 4

Dinner had arrived within seconds of Blair's comment and they finished their respective meals in companionable silence. When the food was done only the sounds of some light cleaning floated in the evening air.

Jim wiped down the counter where he had dumped the bag of donuts and stashed the small pastries in an airtight container. He walked around Blair who was leaning with his back against the counter nursing a hot mug of tea to throw the paper towel into the garbage. He had done all he could for the time being to try to bridge the gap in their friendship. Now all he could do was give Blair time to see if he was willing to accept the olive branch. He almost sighed in relief when the young man spoke up at last.

"As primitive as it sounds, the Sentinel side of you views me as its- well, its property. I think I am sort of imprinted on your senses." Blair set his mug down on the counter behind him and then with a sweeping gesture of both his hands from his head to his toes added, "It's like everything that makes me fundamentally me: heartbeat, smells, sights, mannerisms, etc. etc. On some instinctual level you have them tagged, marked and memorized." He paused to dart a quick glance at Jim trying to gauge how he was reacting to all that he had said thus far. When the older man seemed unfazed and calm he continued. "The moment Cooper came near me his scent altered me somehow. Thankfully it was merely temporary as the shower proved. However, during that time you viewed me as an intruder due to, and correct me if I am wrong, the scent Cooper left that was masking mine."

"You're right, Chief. After I identified his scent on you I turned the dial all the way down to two just to maintain some self-control around you. Even with that I could still smell him mingled with you and if I focused on your scent for too long all I could see was red."

Blair nodded in understanding. "Hence, the Sentinel's need to wash the intruder's scent off me and replace it with your own," he tugged at the oversized sweatshirt Jim had brought him to replace his own wet clothes. "Did you realize when you were in that fugue state you even used your own shampoo on me? It wasn't until I was done washing up that you began to start acting like yourself again."

Jim tensed only now realizing as the primal Sentinel how he had managed to get Sandburg into a freezing cold shower fully clothed. "I didn't hurt you while I was out of it, did I Chief?"

Blair's eyes twinkled, "Only my dignity, man. Took me by surprise is all. I know you could never hurt me. Even threatened there was a part of you fighting to be the blessed protector."

Jim's entire body sagged with relief. He decided not to remind Blair of how close he had been to snapping the kid's neck earlier. He only hoped he could live up to the confidence his partner placed in him. "That makes me wonder why I could smell him all over you, Chief. I thought he only grabbed your wrist?"

"That was just the initial contact. He tackled me to the ground later when he found me."

"You mean when you came out of hiding after I had told you to remain where you were."

"Semantics. The point is he had already made it clear he had wanted me to be his guide." Blair pushed away from the counter and began to pace the length of the kitchen. "You also body slammed me up against the wall when we first met. Initially I always took that to be a byproduct of your police culture, a macho posturing thing but what if, and bear with me for this, what if you were-you know...like marking me with your pheromones and scents? You know, like a big sign to other sentinels: 'MINE'?"

"I'm going to be straight up with you. I'm not liking what I'm hearing here, Sandburg."

"I know but it's not that farfetched is it? I mean wild big cats do it. Most people think they are just scratching themselves or rubbing against someone to show affection but science has since proven they mark their territory and property and in the case of domestic cats even their owners in those ways with glands located all over their bodies." Blair laughed pulling a hair tie from his pocket. He started to pull back his hair into a pony tale. He rolled his eyes, "Mind you, I still think you slammed me up against the wall out of a justified sense of anger, but what if unconsciously the Primal Sentinel in you sensed a kindred spirit, his companion and well, marked me as its own."

"That would certainly account for the feelings of betrayal I was experiencing after I smelled Cooper on you and why it intensified when you came into the loft." Jim crossed his arms over his chest and scratched his chin, "Then what I don't get is why didn't I feel this way after you had spent a week secretly tutoring Alex? I wanted you out of the loft then but there was no urge to kill you."

"Different situation again you two were being drawn to each other to pair up, and while she had a desire for me to be her guide it took back seat to the mating prerogative and her psychotic tendencies. Point in fact she chose to kill me. It would cripple you and buy her the time to escape and regroup with you at a later time. You didn't feel threatened so much as just pissed off and confused about what was going on with you." Blair bounced where he stood, though clearly exhausted there was still the twinkle of excitement over newly discovered research material shining in his eyes and his hands were itching for a tape recorder or at the least a note pad and pen.

Jim mulled over everything Blair had been saying and came to a definitive conclusion of his own. "I think Eli was right when he said that Guides are genetic too. And what you are telling me only proves to strengthen that notion." This is when all the energy Blair had been practically vibrating with just evaporated before Jim's eyes. The kid's entire countenance screamed insecure and unsure. He watched as his best friend brought his arms up to wrap around himself in a form of self-comfort. He had seen many crime scene victims behave very similarly when they seemed lost.

"At first I didn't want to believe him when he told me." Blair took a deep breath. 'Eli and that stupid book.' He shook his head to dismiss the old memories of the arguments he'd had over this subject with his mentor. "I have to say I certainly don't feel special. I mean sure Incacha passed on the way of the Shaman to me but even after that it's you who has the visions and abilities. It took a freaking death experience for me to finally come anywhere close to what a Shaman is supposed to be able to do on a regular basis. Still even then I am tempted to believe I was merely being privy to another of YOUR visions." Blair snagged the back of a dining chair spun it around and then dropped into it facing backwards. He rested his arms and head over the back of the chair. "Eli was so excited about that book he found. He said it explained so much about me. Some of the choices I had made in life, things he couldn't seem to wrap his head around. I didn't want to read it, not at first anyway. I avoided him the first week that he was back at the University simply cause I didn't want to find out he was right."

"You felt like it took away your free will; made you a slave to that role?" Jim saw scared bright denim blue eyes look up at him beseechingly. His guide wanted him to understand his fears so badly. He understood all too well what the young man was going through. He still fought those feeling in spite of the years he had had to come to terms with who he was and what he could do. "What kind of a friend would I be if I allowed you to stew in your insecurities over what you are, especially when you continually encourage me to embrace the gifts I have?" Ellison dropped into another chair across from Blair and waited. He didn't have to for long.

"Thanks Jim, I really appreciate hearing that from you. In part I was afraid that this would be just another facet to the Sentinel thing that would tip the scales for you again man. I know how hard it is for you to be as open minded as you are already. Personally though, I was just afraid." Blair stretched in the seat popping various joints then hunching over again to conserve his body heat as the loft cooled the later into the evening it drew.

"Eli finally convinced me to at least give the journal a look by faxing me a page out of it early this morning. Then all this started to go down. I was supposed to have a meeting with him, at it we were going to discuss the progress I had made on my dissertation and afterward he was going to give me the book to take home and look over." Blair laughed a bitter laugh, "I can't even deny the fact that he was right anymore about what I am. Not after what happened when Andrew and I made contact. Then it happened again with you and I." Blair groaned lifting his head from where it had been resting on his arms over the back of the chair. He started to repeatedly thump his head against the chair back. "Except now Andrew has the book and because I let my personal fears hold me back I have no idea how to stop what he is going to try to do," he ended in obvious frustration and distress.

James Ellison picked up on what had been left unspoken even quicker than normal and as a result he sat up ramrod straight. "What do you know Sandburg, that you haven't told me yet?" He spoke with a controlled worry.

Blair took a deep breath of air and steeled himself for what he was about to say. "Ironically-" and the anthropologist gulped nervously before he continued, "the page that Professor Stoddard faxed me was about the bond between Sentinel and Guide."

Jim watched as Blair's eyes glazed over though he looked in his direction. He had to fight the urge to harry the information out of his roommate. 'Patience, he will get to the point.'

"Jim, there is this ceremony that links a Guide to his Sentinel…for life. They become inseparable. The bit I read even hints to a psychic link being formed between the two as a result of bonding. While the page I have goes into the importance of the bond and how it benefits the two, its the book that we don't have that contains the ritual steps on how to establish the bond between the Sentinel and Guide pair. Apparently we haven't bonded yet." Blair ran both his shaky hands over his face, "One Sentinel to one Guide, man. Andrew has the information in the book explaining how to initiate the bond. If he comes after me to try-if he succeeds…I won't be able to leave his side, Jim. We will be tethered together for life." He muttered that last bit quietly with his head bowed.

The cat was out of the bag so to speak. The idea of being so committed to and dependent on another person was intimidating at the best of times. This information presented under the current circumstances could very well leave the detective feeling pressured and forced into an act he hadn't wanted or wasn't ready yet to take. Blair himself was frightened by the thought of being chained to Jim; a man whom he considered to be the best friend and person he has ever had the privilege to know. But being connected to some stranger, let alone this Andrew Cooper who had already shown the levels he would sink to in order to get what he wanted. Blair took a deep shaky breath and looked up into the steady gaze of his best friend. He hadn't known what emotion to expect on the older man's face, but what he saw caused his heart to clench in panic. He rushed to reassure the man in front of him whose emotions were being hastily shuttered so as not to give away how this information disturbed him. With feigned optimism and indifference Blair shrugged his shoulders, "Of course he'll more than likely fail and you will end up catching him." 'Be cool, don't spook him more than you already have.'

Jim's jaw clenched, the muscles twitching uncontrollably as he looked at the man in front of him who had already given so much of himself to help him. He decided to voice the unspoken inevitable outcome Blair had avoided mentioning. "But in either case, unless we ourselves take the steps and decide to commit to this one hundred percent there is the strong possibility that others might be drawn to you to try and possibly succeed if you remain unbounded. Anyway you look at it..." He felt the weight of Sandburg's stare and had to turn away to look out the balcony windows. There never was any doubt he wouldn't do what needed to be done, Ellison only hoped the free spirited friend in front of him who so valued his independence could forgive him someday for taking the choice away from him, "Okay then..."

The disappointment Blair felt at seeing how uncomfortable this news was making Jim feel caused the young man to drop his head back down to rest on his forearms. Staring bleakly down at the hardwood floor resulted in him missing the look of determination that settled across Jim's face and so he misunderstood the Sentinel's meaning when he spoke. Why did it feel like his whole world was tethered to a yo-yo string right then. "Yeah, that pretty much sums it up."


	5. Chapter 5

The following week had left Jim feeling quite ambivalent about Andrew Cooper's disappearance. All their attempts to track the man down seemed to turn into dead ends. Dr. Cooper had simply vanished into thin air.

What they had uncovered was rather useless in aiding to capture him. Jim had found out rather quickly that Cooper had flown in on a Delta aircraft into SeaTac the morning of the attack and had headed straight to the university in search of Sandburg and Stoddard, taking a taxi rather than renting a car to transport him there. No tickets had been purchased for his return departure from any of the nearby airports, so if he had left the area it wasn't by plane.

Interpol had sent over what little info they had on the doctor and to Jim's chagrin there had been no criminal activity associated with the man of any real substance. He had the typical juvenile incidences that were associated with college life and having far too much money, but nothing that attributed to his sudden departure from norm. Aside from being from a wealthy and respected family in London and a very successful physician over seas there was nothing of interest about him that jumped out at Ellison. He even had his visa and other papers in order. So conventional means of acquiring information had been ultimately fruitless. Jim changed tactics the second week.

After a few days of digging Jim finally uncovered the pivotal point where Andrew apparently lost his hold on leading a normal life. About a few months ago receipts for a therapist consultation became a regular occurrence in his spending according to bank records. When Jim delved deeper he found a single mention of the man in a newspaper heading among those suspected killed in a hospital bombing. And then a week later a large spread about how he had survived the terrorist attack on the hospital despite being trapped in a small crawl space deep within the rubble for a week before rescuers unearthed him.

A single call to the therapist and without ever breaching Cooper's doctor/patient confidentiality Jim had perceived that the man's bombing related seclusion had been the trigger for his senses coming online. Apparently the family had paid the media to have this kept out of tabloids or reports fearful of the damage such news could wreak on the family name and business.

It was the last thing James Ellison had wanted to hear. A truly bad individual or criminal type he could easily apprehend with out fear of recrimination from his conscience. But if Andrew Cooper really was all Blair seemed to think he was, a desperate man searching for help, then apprehending this guy without sympathizing with him for what had driven him to such desperation was going to be near impossible. There still remained a large part of Jim that hoped to find the other Sentinel and put him behind bars. Now though, he felt an equally large part of him hoped Andrew and the book remained gone forever, forgotten by law and Cascade all together. Even better if Cooper found himself a Guide somewhere else, preferably back across the pond. Those odds he believed were negligible though. If what Stoddard felt was true and Blair was influenced by a genetic predisposition to be the companion to a Sentinel then he was even more rare than a Sentinel, especially if the actions of the others over the last few months were to be seen as a validation of that theory.

So needless to say Ellison's initial outrage over the attempt made by the other man to take away his best friend and guide became less of outright hostility and more of anxiety induced anger and fear.

The worries started shortly thereafter. Jim had a handle on his senses thanks to Sandburg. But what if Blair believed he could be of more help to this other obviously desperate man? What if Cooper had no qualms about going public with his abilities when he had them under control? Would Sandburg continue to stay with him if given the choice? Especially did he worry that the kid might be tempted to leave with the option to actually publish without the fear of the news bringing negative attention?

After that first morning Jim had turned into the most paranoid mother hen Blair had ever known. After that first week though, the insight his investigation had given him made him downright suffocating. Blair was escorted everywhere, for his safety he was told. The kid's social life bit the dust as he refused to have Jim tag along there as well. All of the courses that had been held at Hargrove Hall had been postponed until the renovations could be finished which meant Blair lost most of his teaching assignments. In total Sandburg's academic schedule and workload was more than halved. Within the course of one day his roommate was forced into the lifestyle of a hermit.

Jim on the other had taken to the changes quite well. Cascade's best Detective had gained even better arrest records now that Blair was free to be dragged along on most if not all of his cases. While he maintained the manhunt for Cooper as his top priority he kept up with his other caseloads. Some of his fellow officers began jokingly referring to his partner as his lucky rabbit's foot. It didn't bother him as much as Sandburg thought it should. A side advantage Jim had discovered was that his senses worked so much easier the longer the two of them spent time together. This just strengthened the belief that a bonding between Sentinel and Guide would indeed result in the Sentinel functioning better.

The problem he failed to see was he liked having his insightful partner with him too much; as he provided a fresh perspective along with insight into many of the cases he was given. Jim was beginning to feel like things needed to remain the same going forward, after all what better place for the Guide than at his Sentinel's side? So what if Sandburg and him hadn't yet completed the bond. As far as Jim was concerned it wasn't a matter of 'if' but more of a matter of 'when'. Any side effects as a result of the bonding they would simply deal with as they manifested.

Soon Jim found himself making plans for a month's leave of absence toward an indeterminate time in the future. He had more than that in saved vacation time and Simon was always trying to get him to take it off. Now he had a reason to do so. This would give Sandburg and him enough time to sort out the bond when it was made. All he needed now was the book that Andrew Cooper had disappeared with. Until the other Sentinel showed up to follow through with his threat Jim was left waiting to make his move. Or he could bait Cooper out of hiding...The idea had merit as it allowed them to be in control of the situation when Andrew came for Sandburg. He might have some trouble convincing Simon to go along with the plan. At least he would have Blair's cooperation, with the kid's career choice all but taken away from him for the last couple of weeks the younger man was beginning to resent the restrictions forced on him. He would probably eagerly go along with any plan Jim formed as long as it bought him a ticket out of the safe house life style he was forced to bear with. Of course that all depended on if he could intentionally place his Guide in the path of another Sentinel; an act which went against the very core of Jim's being. He was after all the anthropologist's Blessed Protector.

If Jim hadn't been so comfortable with Blair's current situation then he perhaps he would have noticed the depression beginning to take hold of his roommate.

Considering everything Blair Sandburg had endured or tolerated as a cooped up hyperactive graduate student, he felt he had behaved quite well. The initial week had been hard on him but since he was still shaken up about the attempted abduction he didn't fight Jim much on his imposed safeguards. By the following Monday however, two weeks of being attached at the hip and his demeanor shifted from understanding and patient to morose and infantile.

It was eight in the morning on that third week after the attack when the proverbial straw broke the camel's back and Blair finally blew a gasket.

Detective James Ellison called out of the shower, "Chief, we have time for a big breakfast this morning. Simon called last night to ask us to take a latter shift so we could help out H and Rafe with the Black Market case. Something about those ancient musical instruments I was telling you about the other evening. Think you could whip up those cheese blintzes I like so much since we got the time?" The sentinel turned up his hearing to catch his roommate's response over the sound of the running shower. He sighed in ecstasy as the soap seemed to wash away the weariness in his muscles.

"Sure thing."

As the Sentinel enjoyed the hot water of his shower he could hear the sounds of the kitchen cabinets being opened and shut repeatedly. So far his plan was going off without a hitch. He knew if Blair were going to make a move towards getting a little time to himself he would do it now, while he was preoccupied. Relying on how well he knew his partner Jim had already texted Stoddard earlier that morning about meeting up. If he was going to succeed with his plans he needed the help of the senior anthropologist. Now all he had to do was see if he had read his partner well enough. He was even taking a longer than normal shower to allow Sandburg to make up his mind.

From out in the kitchen Blair decided now was as good a time as any to implement operation B.S. Independence. "Hey Jim we are out of coffee and a few other essentials. I'm gonna head over to the QuickPic to grab some stuff up. I'll be back in a few." He hadn't bothered to shout it out to the man in the bathroom knowing Jim's ever-present enhanced hearing would pick up on what he had said.

From inside the bathroom Jim took a deep breath, 'Let the show begin.'

Blair was shrugging into his jacket by the door and reaching out to collect his keys when his stealthy roommate intercepted him. Jim plucked the keys from the bowl they rested in on the table by the front door. Watching his guide spin around to grasp at them, the taller man held them high above his head and safely out of reach. "I can be ready in five minutes, Chief. Wait right here."

"No." Blair's face was flushed red with indignation. He jumped up to swipe the keys back only to grasp at the air. He curled his hands into fists at his side as Jim backed out of his reach one hand holding the keys aloft while the other held the towel securely around his waist. "I didn't ask for you to come along, Jim." He unclenched his fists and ran both his hands through his hair pulling at the curls in exasperation. "In fact I pointedly went out of my way to make sure you couldn't come with me!" Blair's gaze was drawn to the sopping wet floor that followed in the wake of his best friend's quick exit out of the shower. "Look at the floor, Jim. You never let the wood get wet, it's like house rule number four or something! You need to let up man. It has been almost a month. He isn't coming back. Give me some freakin' breathing room."

Jim turned around without so much as a comment and trotted up the stairs leading into his bedroom feigning irritation. He had been warned by Simon and a few others at the precinct that this explosion was coming. Now he was using it to his advantage.

Blair knew he wasn't under any protective custody, not officially anyway. As far as the police knew he had simply been one among the many of witnesses to Andrew Cooper's bizarre psychological meltdown and subsequent rampage. Blair had managed to convince Eli Stoddard to refrain from commenting on why he had been targeted, stressing Jim's confidentiality and anonymity in the matters. Over the past few weeks Blair had been more than understanding of his best friend's need to be cautious. Except now he felt things were getting a bit out of hand and he needed to reassert his independence. "Jim, I am sorry all right. I appreciate that you have only been trying to keep me safe. This has just been difficult, and that's putting it mildly," he rolled his eyes at his own way of greatly understating matters. Silence interspersed with the occasional dresser drawer opening and closing were the only responses he received. Sandburg paced in front of the door waiting for his best friend to say something, anything. When it became obvious that Jim was not willing to let go of his upset feelings and act like an adult Blair threw his hands up in the air and washed his hands of the man and his silent treatment. "Fine, be that way but I am going out one way or the other. It would be nice if I could drive there instead of walking..." he looked up expectantly at the loft railing grateful as a moment later a set of keys was lobbed in his direction. "Thanks, man." A grumbled 'Be careful' was Blair's only goodbye and reluctant permission to leave.

Not that Jim knew he needed to give it, Sandburg would have left with or without Jim's approval. Ellison waited for the sound of his front door to open and close. Once he heard Blair leave he quickly shoved his feet into some shoes as he sent out his hearing to keep tabs on his young Guide. He relaxed when he made it safely to his car and drove away. Jim figured he had a good two hours before Blair returned from the store. He glanced at the clock as he trotted down the stairs and over to the front door. He snagged his jacket off the hook by the door and pocketed his keys and cell phone. He had just enough time to head down to the University, speak with Professor Stoddard, and then return home without Blair discovering he had ever left. With one last glance around the loft to ensure the place was locked up, Jim headed out. He had a short time to discuss some very important plans with his roommate's mentor.

"You are of course aware that your desire to speak in person and not over the phone reveals an alarming degree of paranoia, James." Eli Stoddard walked briskly into the temporary office he had been granted use of. He dropped his load of textbooks and reports down onto a small swivel chair by the door and then firmly shut the door behind himself.

Were all academics as disorganized and messy as Sandburg, Jim wondered. "I used to be in Covert-Ops. It makes a guy cautious."

"Well that explains your refusal of my notes being delivered via fax or e-mail. Not why you asked that I withhold this information from Blair, however." Stoddard had walked past Jim over to the metal desk he was using and pulled out a manila folder from the top most drawer. He held out the folder for Jim to take.

The moment Eli had strode past him, Jim's nostrils flared and he was reminded of the red flags the professor's scent triggered in him. 'What is it that I keep smelling?' He inhaled deeply, purposefully categorizing the various aspects of the smell. He would have to analyze them later with Blair's help.

Jim eyed the bundle of papers as though it were a serpent about to strike. "I'm simply trying to be discreet about this investigation where Sand-Blair is concerned. He's always had a hard time with refusing anyone help." Finally with a deep breath he took them.

"As well as with his ability to trust too. I hope he has not misjudged you Inspector." Eli was no fool, but instead a rather insightful old man. He knew when he was being told a half-truth. He decided not to push, after all Blair trusted the man before him with his life and future.

Jim accepted the implied threat for what it was a mentor protecting a beloved pupil. He sighed glancing over all the material the old anthropologist had provided him with. A topographical map caught his attention where two areas had been highlighted. "You are sure about these locations?"

Eli flashed a set of bright white teeth. "That temple was not easy to locate, James. It took our camp four days to find it with the help of the indigenous people. Whom might I add were quite reluctant to lead us there." He paused removing his glasses to clean them with the hem of his shirt, "If I translated the glyphs correctly Blair as well as the Sentinel he bonds with are going to be drawn there as soon as the bonding ritual is initiated. I have given you the notes that were recovered from the fire; they are a rough overview on the journal I discovered. I only wish I had more but that blasted disease I contracted while there interrupted my normal documenting procedures."

"This is more than I could have hoped for Professor." Jim could see the genuine frustration in the older man in front of him. He slipped the folder into his jacket and zipped it up tightly.

"I added what I could remember about the bonding ceremony itself, but I warn you the plants they used are highly potent and quite dangerous when mishandled. Without the specific steps outlined in the book I would not risk stabbing a guess at how it is put together. There is always the chance the way those genetic memories which were triggered in Ms. Barnes while visiting the temple might also manifest themselves in the Companion's Temple. If that were to happen then there would be little need to have Burton's journal to simply cement the bond between Blair and you, Inspector. It would ensure his safety, his permanence at your side, and would simultaneously afford you two the time to hunt for Dr. Cooper. Now I have contacted some friends and informed them of your intentions. Their numbers are listed and all you have to do is contact them to set up when and they will arrange for safe transport through the jungle."

Jim decided not to mention that he was planning on making the trip only with Blair and that he didn't want to inform anyone else of there destination. Some things were better left unsaid. "Thanks again. I need to be getting back." He turned to leave and was stopped by a hand on his arm. When he turned around he was pinned by two very keen wise old hazel eyes.

"Naomi never taught Blair how to commit to anything, James. All the follow through he has displayed in his life has been as a direct result of him plunging ahead against every instinct she instilled in him. He was smart enough to see that she wasn't right about everything but that doesn't mean his first instinct isn't to run from commitment. Personal responsibility has always been difficult for him. Do not allow your fear of Cooper or your own selfishness to push him into a bond he is unwilling to form. Trust him to make the right decision when the time comes. "

Jim's jaw clenched and his muscles twitched as he ground his teeth. The man had put in words feelings he himself had found trouble coming to grips with let alone articulating. His crystal blue eyes hardened as he returned Eli's intense searching gaze. He didn't know what Stoddard was expecting to find in his facial features but he must have been satisfied because a second later he was released. With a curt nod Jim left the small office and headed back to the loft. As he walked out to the truck his mind was filled with all sorts of questions. Wouldn't he be saving the both of them a world of trouble if he simply forged this bond? Did it really matter that Sandburg want to be his Guide forever? The kid had never complained they he put a hamper on his style of life, at least not before this whole fiasco. Could he leave the choice up to Blair?

With more questions than when he had initially arrived Jim climbed into his truck and turned towards the direction of home. He could wait till tomorrow before making any firm travel arrangements. The basics were covered: he had the destination, he had discreetly packed their gear already, and he had for the most part cleared the time with Simon. All that remained to be done now was to ensure his guide remained just that, his Guide.


	6. Chapter 6

As he had expected, Jim made it home before Blair. It was an hour before noon. The sought after argument had cost him breakfast a small price when compared to the value of what Eli handed over. Ellison figured his roommate would return with his purchases by lunchtime. Which was perfect as it gave him a little time to take the folder up to his room. It wasn't entirely safe from prying eyes up there but Sandburg generally respected his privacy.

Though he knew Blair would be returning safely he still felt uneasy that he had let his friend go out without his supervision. He smiled as he thought of the plain-clothes officers Simon had agreed to assign to Blair. The instructions were only to call Jim if there was anything amiss. Checking his cell he was relieved that he had received no messages or calls. All was supposedly well. So technically the anthropologist wasn't really on his own, but he didn't have to know he had secret babysitters. It was a risk Jim had been willing to take. Although, if the young man found out, there would be hell to pay.

Jim crashed across his bed and pulled out the research Professor Stoddard had given him. He knew he needed to share this with Blair, but he feared Blair's reaction to the information the papers contained. His insecurities dictated that he go through it first to determine its affect on their friendship. Afterward he could share the information with Blair.

Jim had the feeling it was his need to be in control that was getting the better of him again. He was walking a fine line. Blair would call him out on it if he knew, saying Jim's trust and fear issues had reared thier ugly head. He hated that he would more than likely be right. He was deceiving himself if he thought that once he had gone over the material first and then given Blair the information his partner would not be upset. Still believing that helped assuage his conscience. As did the knowledge that he had discreetly asked Stoddard to hold back any of the journal he had copied or made notes of until after Jim had taken an opportunity to go over the information first. If the young man was going to be upset with him then he wouldn't be in the hot seat alone, so would Blair's mentor be too. Blair's reaction to Eli's and his deception was not Ellison's top priority at the moment, rather his friend's continued presence at his side was.

He began reading the very first page. It was Eli's thoughts on what Burton had written about the Sentinels' companion. Stoddard had told him the notes were incomplete and he wasn't kidding. There were lists of characteristics that were found in a Guide, lists of the responsibilities, lists of the sacrifices the guide made to become the permanent companion to the Sentinel. Interestingly beside most of the items on the list there was a check mark. A small note in the margin read: "Of the ones I am sure of." He wondered if Eli had meant Blair or someone else.

Jim's mind swam when he came to the section about the rigorous training the Guide received from infancy onward. He would basically apprentice the village Shaman. He thought about how hard Blair had researched in order to aid him and how much time he had invested through trial and error in helping him to utilize his senses. Compared with the training he should have had one could rightly think Blair had been at a severe disadvantage when it came to acting as a Guide to his Sentinel. Yet Jim felt deep respect, awe and appreciation for the effort he recognized Blair had exerted in accomplishing as much as he had with his Sentinel abilities; especially in light of the limitations he was working with.

There were several more pages of very neatly typed out notes on the subject of Guides in general, but always interspersed through out the information were small asterisks. He flipped back to the first page and discovered a small key in the bottom corner explaining that information next to an asterisk referred to Eli's own personal notes.

Jim decided to fish out those notes. The difference in documentation styles was immediately evident as the former 'official' notes were of a professional quality much like the dissertation he would occasionally take a peak at; of which Sandburg was constantly typing away at. The latter were handwritten and personal in their perspective, reminding Jim of the small journals his Guide kept with him to write in at all times.

Jim sped through the first few paragraphs in search of one bit of information in particular. The words 'bonding ceremony' jumped out at him from the text and he stopped to read carefully.

[This Bonding Ceremony seems to be a double edged sword for the Sentinel/Guide pair. While the physical benefits seem to help the two cooperate at an unparalleled level of efficiency; were either of them to be mortally wounded the bond's destruction ultimately causes the death of the surviving member.

Ne'erfu and Tarui mentioned at the outset of Burton's Journal met their end sadly while Burton was visiting the tribe. Ne'erfu, the Sentinel, prevented a small boy within the village from being swept away by a mudslide during one particularly fearful storm. Just as the protector was handing the child up to the eager arms of his parents the ground he stood on was washed away by the mudslide and the Sentinel with it.

The village all seemed to shift their gaze expectantly to Tarui who had been busily helping settle the other tribe members. The Companion who had apparently sensed what had taken place moments before smiled sadly uttered a brief goodbye to his loved village members and then for no physically discernible reason dropped dead where he stood a minute after the Sentinel had been swept away.

Burton writes that had he not seen the entire incident with his own eyes he would never have believed the tales about the connection between Companion and Sentinel.

The village shaman granted him an examination of the man's body. To his keen eyes he couldn't detect any logical reason the man should have died. Tarui had been in peak physical shape from his observations over the last couple of weeks.

In lieu of this information I hesitate to give my son this journal and all it contains. God knows he risks his life enough. Still I know my concerns are subject to the importance this information has on his future. I fear I have no choice but to let my son make the choice for himself, and while I may not wholly agree or understand his sacrifices I am beginning to gain greater insight into his actions through this Journal. He has proven his worth and maturity countless times and I only hope Naomi has not scarred him too much when it comes to making a commitment of this magnitude. Perhaps if I had played a more active role than she allowed me to in his upbringing he wouldn't...]

James Ellison jumped up front his spot where he had been sitting on the bed. The rest of the words seemed to glaze over as Ellison's mind tried to come to terms with what he had just read. 'Son? He couldn't mean-' Jim carefully reread the journal entry. Surely he had misread it. Maybe the exhaustion from the last few weeks had been greater than he had realized. There was no mistaking the context though. He rolled the papers up and tucked them into his pant's back pocket. He turned to look out over the loft below him clutching at the railing like a drowning man to a raft. 'Eli Stoddard is Sandburg's father?'

Thinking about Stoddard reminded Jim of the peculiar scent that had sent up red flags in his mind. It had smelled so familiar, reminding him of Blair more than just a little. He took a deep breath and filtered through the various odors and scents that permeated the loft. He zeroed in on the unique scent he associated with his Guide. His fists curled as realized why the two smelled so similar.

Once a while back Jim had learned there existed a unique mixture of scents both Blair and Naomi shared. He had picked up on the similarities when she last visited. Blair upon hearing about Jim's discovery had been keenly interested and was quick to understand it as family genetics. Obviously if certain physical traits could be inherited then it made sense that biological family members would share unique scent markers as well. He had triumphantly announced that Jim could now add paternity/maternity detector to the list of enhanced abilities his Sentinel side brought to Major Crimes. In this same way in which he had smelled a link between mother and son, he now unconsciously recognized the link between the son and the father.

'Curse you, Eli!' Jim dragged a hand over his face. How was he supposed to share this information with Sandburg? His hand settled firmly over his mouth as he felt the urge to shout out in anger well up within him. Stoddard had sure picked an odd method and time to reveal his connection to Blair. He didn't know what to do or say now. His plan had been to go over the information on his own to satisfy him that it held nothing damaging to their friendship's survival and then allow Blair to see it. How could he share this with Blair now? Would he be forgiven for having found out before him? What if he withheld this knowledge? With a growing sense of dread Jim realized he might have to keep this from his guide. There was a monstrous headache forming from the emotional stress of what he had uncovered. The muscles of his jaw began to twitch as he clenched his teeth.

Jim knew Blair tried to downplay the fact that he hadn't known his father growing up, but there was always a wistful look on his friend's face that he couldn't quite hide anytime the subject of fathers came up in conversation. Now here he was with the answer to Sandburg's parentage. A secret he had discovered while going behind his partner's back in search of information that pertained to the both of them. Once more Ellison had been sucked into a disaster of his own making. Because of his own stubbornness and refusal to be open with channels of communication he had jeopardized the progress the two of them had been making in mending their friendship. The reasons for his roommate to be upset with him were continuing to mount up.

Jim needed to call Eli. He jogged down the stairs. Snatching his cell phone up from the door-side table then quickly punched in the number for Professor Stoddard. He grimaced as his sensitive hearing spiked briefly. He hated how being emotional always seemed to affect his senses especially with his roommate absent to help anchor him. He was going to give the man a piece of his mind. He had to turn his hearing down a couple of notches when Eli picked up on the other end of the line.

"Inspector. And to what do I owe this pleasure?" crackled the soft disembodied voice over the small cell's speaker.

James Ellison saw red almost instantly. He knew why he'd called! He stalked over to the balcony doors and cast his unseeing gaze over the Cascade skyline. "How the hell could you do this?! What am I supposed to do with this information?"

"ah-You read my personal notes."

"Only an idiot would have missed their meaning, Eli!" Jim paced in front of the balcony doors. "You've known all along. Why tell me? Why not reveal it to him first! How could you have kept this from him?! You've known him forever. You have seen how much not knowing who his father is has haunted him." Jim wanted to strike out at something so badly. The blessed protector in him surging out over the emotional pain his guide had been suffering. "How do you expect me to share this information with him now?"

"Come now Inspector, you and I both know that you never had any intention of revealing to Blair you had gone behind his back. My secret is safe with you. This changes nothing. Unless you choose to do so."

"Listen, you coward! I am not some convenient emotional outlet for you to relieve your conscience with. I can't keep this a secret from him. Are you dense? He's my partner!" This time he punctuated that statement with a fist into the doorframe. The pain helped to center him and rein in his temper. He squared his shoulders and growled at the deep sigh from the other end of the line.

"Perhaps you should be taking this up with Naomi, James. I have remained quite at HER insistence only. I've debated whether or not to give you my notes...Believe me I never wanted to keep this from him, Inspector. In the end I thought it was best. I understand the position I have placed you in but I feel no regret. You could not imagine the relief at being able to reveal to someone that he is my son. Who better to reveal it to than my son's Sentinel."

"I don't believe this. You two are incredible. Naomi has led him to believe she doesn't know who his father is. And you selfishly enjoy his company and adoration while keeping him in the dark about who you are! Seriously, Eli, Blair is an adult. He has the right to know you're his father!"

No sooner had the words been shouted in anger and frustration than the sound of a loud crash was heard from outside in the hallway down by the elevator.

Jim froze. "Oh god, Blair's home. We are not done here, Stoddard. No way you are getting off that easy."

"I will resign myself to whatever way you so choose to use this information, James. But perhaps for the time being you would agree to keeping it between the two of us at least for the interim?"

Jim growled his acquiescence then flipped the cell phone shut. He rushed over to the front door. Had Blair been listening in? Did he hear Jim's shout moments before? All these worries and more plagued his mind as he rushed out into the hall to confront his best friend.

Ellison found the young man over burdened with paper grocery bags. Apparently the noise he had heard moments ago was his partner failing to juggle all the bags. The hall was filled with the pungent odor of Blair's favorite kombucha. The glass bottle had shattered when it hit the floor along with the bag, spilling the vinegar type liquid everywhere.

"Shoot. Stay back Jim!" Blair had looked up and over to his friend when he heard the loft door open. He knew the sound of the glass breaking would bring his blessed protector out. He was stooped over the mess trying to gather the shards of wet glass onto the remnants of the brown bag. "I've got this man. Just go back inside. " When it was obvious Jim wasn't going to heed his warnings, he advised him to adjust his sense of smell. "Dial it back, man." Normally he wouldn't open and drink one of these around his sensitive friend but rather wait till he was at the university. Unfortunately he hadn't been there for a while to enjoy one.

"Let me give you a hand here, Chief." Though Blair's heart rate was elevated it was nothing beyond what Jim would expect to be associated with the embarrassment and irritation of the accident he had just caused. Most of the tension left him with that realization. He was in the clear for now. "Why don't you head on inside with the rest of the groceries while I clean up this mess."

"Nah. My hands are already covered in this stuff you take the groceries and I will finish up cleaning this." Blair was definitely in a better frame of mind after his trip by himself to the store and out of the loft. It had been just what the doctor ordered. While he appreciated his blessed protector, that side of Jim had saved his life more times than Blair wanted to count, it was still a chore to deal with the man in that state of mind for any extended length of time. And he had noticed he wasn't the only one affected too, even Jim was beginning to snap at him over every little thing because of the large quantity of time they had spent together. What ultimately frustrated Blair was that his pleasant trip away from the loft and its resident mother hen had ended this way.

Realizing he wasn't going to win this battle, Jim stooped down to pick up the three intact bags and left the hunched over figure to his task. His own heart was beating hard and he still felt the effects of the adrenaline coursing through his veins as a result of his confrontation with Eli. He dropped the bags onto the kitchen island. He had only unpacked a few items when the sentinel heard a sharp hiss of pain come through the open front door. He whipped around and rushed back over to Blair. "Chief?" Jim's nose was assaulted by the coppery tang of his Guide's blood.

Blair was gripping his right hand tightly at the base of his thumb to staunch the flow of blood from a cut along the length of the digit. "I slipped and tried to steady myself. It's fine. I'm fine. "

"Yeah I can see that genius from the amount of blood flowing down your wrist. Get in the Loft. I will finish up here. Wait in the restroom for me to inspect it."

Blair nodded mutely. He was grateful for the hand at his elbow that helped to pull him up from his crouched position on the floor. Wordlessly he passed the mess he had created and headed into their home. As he walked away he could hear the quiet murmurings of disbelief from his friend behind him.

"...trouble magnet."

Sandburg smiled ruefully. He hated that all the evidence did seem to back up this long running joke. Trouble always found him whether or not he was looking for it. He kept his hand elevated as he crossed the loft to the bathroom. Any ideas about reaching into the closet for the ever present and overstocked first aid kit were banished when he realized it would be impossible to do so without getting blood on the other linens in there as well. He sat down atop the toilet to wait for Jim to fix him up. He didn't have to wait long.

The mess in the hall safely dealt with Jim locked the front door and threw the bundle of stinky glass and paper towels into the trashcan. He headed straight into the bathroom where he found his roommate patiently waiting. He washed his hands clean of the fermented tea and then pulled out the first aid kit. Wordlessly he sorted through the supplies for the all too familiar things he would need to stitch his partner up. "Let's see it."

Blair sheepishly held up his hand. Prior to the appearance of this rival, Blair would have pushed that he could clean up this wound himself. Would in fact have insisted on not being coddled. This was post Alex, though. And now post Andrew too. He realized the way his Sentinel was overreacting was his way of coping with a lack of action on their part. It was the waiting game. They had exhausted all leads and now had to wait for Cooper to make the move if any. He winced as Jim carefully removed a shard of glass that embedded itself in his flesh.

"Sorry."

Blair's curls flew as he shook his head. "No, no worries. Just, you know me and pain. Eternal wuss..."

"Hold still. " Came the clipped command.

Blair's adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed, nervously nodding his head to indicate his compliance. He saw the look of concentration on his Sentinel's face and moved his knee so that it was resting against Jim's. He smiled as the tension eased in his friend's face. "You looked like you were heading into a zone there Jim. Everything all right?"

"Just got a lot on my mind kiddo."

Blair nodded his head in understanding but then froze. "Did anything happen while I was out, man?! I thought I heard you shouting when I got off the elevator, but in the mess with the glass I forgot."

"Nothing, Sandburg. Quit moving." Jim willed his body to give nothing away.

Ellison's countenance seemed cool as a cucumber and if it had been anyone other than Blair, Blair who had made it his life's work observing the detective, it might have been easy to be fooled. But it was Blair and he felt the minute tightening of Jim's grip on his wrist and saw the barely perceptible twinge in his left eye. Those two things gave his friend away. "Was it Cooper you were shouting at on the phone?"

The tweezers dug in a fraction too deep and the hand Jim was working on was yanked away. "Sandburg," Jim growled.

Blair yelped at the pain in his hand cradling it to his chest. "That was immature man. I was just curious what happened." Now he was truly concerned. He took a second to look the kneeling man over with his discerning stare. It became instantly obvious there was something bothering his friend. He changed gears immediately. 'Time to talk.'

Jim watched as an indignant Blair gave way to the concerned-friend Blair. This spelt trouble. He blew out a pent up breath. It was time for some fast-talking and smooth evading. "Drop it, Blair." Or he could clam up in his normal fashion and leave the nimble verbal footwork to pros like the kid. He snatched back the injured appendage and swiped it with an alcohol pad. It was low he knew but very few things could derail his guide when he was intent on finding something out.

"Bloody Hmmmm!" White-hot pain seared the flesh around the wound. Blair pursed his lips and gritted his teeth against the pain, his hand fisting at his side. By the time he opened his eyes Jim was already smearing Polysporin into the cut and wrapping a bandage over it.

As Jim knelt before the hurt young man he rationalized his actions as being necessary in order to keep Sandburg in the dark about the conversation on the phone. A mildly upset guide was head over heels easier to handle than a betrayed pissed off friend. "All done, sport." Ellison climbed to his feet and put the med kit away. He was quick to exit the bathroom and leave it's occupant. "I take it you haven't had lunch yet. Why don't I finish putting these groceries away and then I can make us some food before we head in to the station. I told Simon I would be coming in this afternoon to tackle some of the paper work from the Bellvue case."

Blair gingerly rubbed at the bandage on his hand while he sat on the toilet lid. 'Guess that's that then,' he would wait to bring the subject up at another time. Then his mind flashed to the rolled up papers sticking out of Jim's back pocket he had noticed as the man walked out of the bathroom. He wondered if they held the reason for Jim's mood shift. He hopped up off the seat and walked after his friend, a new mission in mind.

"Thanks for letting me out of the safe house earlier Jim," Blair joked. He headed into the kitchen to help with the groceries.

"Don't mention it, Chief."

Blair felt his heart beating in excitement but hoped the sentinel would dismiss that as residual pain from his hand. "Yeah well I was going majorly stir crazy; so I just needed to get out you know?" He stationed himself in the middle of the kitchen just slightly in the way of its other occupant. He slowly bent over to stack some canned goods in a lower cabinet. He allowed himself to be bumped into repeatedly. It had been a while since he had needed to call upon his skills as a pickpocket, but right now he was glad for the seldom-used talent. If Jim wanted to be tight lipped about information he knew deep down was pertinent to the situation at hand then he wasn't above playing a little dirty himself.

Blair waited until the detective was extending his arm up towards the top shelf where the dry goods were stored. Then he made his move. He snatched the package of coffee that had yet to be put away. Leaning against the taller man with his body Blair reached his left hand around and under the detective to put the coffee next to the maker on the counter Jim was currently blocking. He had stealthily placed his right hand between their bodies to slip the papers from Jim's pocket. As he moved away the papers easily came with him.

Before he had a moment to grin in victory Sandburg was on his knees at Jim's feet with tears in his eyes as he felt his wrist twisted in a steely grip. The grip was so strong and fierce he felt the bones of his wrist grate together. The pressure points in his hand were being stabbed trying to force him to release the papers. 'Well that was unexpected. Think I hit a nerve there.' A pain filled chuckle escaped his lips as he recognized the unfortunate pun.


	7. Chapter 7

Jim was panicked and as that was an emotion he didn't deal with well it translated to anger. The anger he felt was initially directed at himself for his own stupidity in leaving Stoddard's notes where his inquisitive roommate could find them. There had been the briefest fraction of time where his shock at what he felt going on behind his back had paralyzed his movements. But when that initial shock had worn off he reacted quickly, spurned to action by the fear of what those papers would reveal to his partner.

Jim's black ops training decided to override his rational thought and within seconds he had Sandburg on his knees at his feet in the center of the kitchen. He growled as he dug his fingers into the sensitive pressure point between the tendons of the kid's wrist. With Blair immobilized he plucked the papers from his grasp shoving them back into his own pocket. "Don't EVER do that again," he emphasized his point by tightening his grip on the thin wrist in his hand. Blair's pained gasp reminded him of who he was dealing with and he loosened his grip.

"...hit a nerve." Blair blinked through the tears forming at the corners of his eyes. 'Stupid!' Perhaps in hind sight it had been a bad idea.

"Jesus, Sandburg. Have you lost your mind?! I could have snapped your wrist! What were you thinking?" He released the wrist as if it had burned him. He watched as Blair's arm fell to his side limply. He stumbled back a couple steps leaning back against the counter for support.

A slightly hysterical chuckle escaped him. "What was I thinking?!" The chuckle died in Blair's throat and he glared up at his best friend. "I was thinking it would be nice to skip this emotional and psychological constipation for once and just find out for myself what it is Mr. Stoic himself seems so determined to keep from me." Wearily he lifted the assaulted limb to his chest and rubbed absently at the angry red mark encircling his wrist. 'That's going to leave a bruise.' Blair sat back on his haunches to look up into the face of his roommate. How fitting their current positions: he on his knees and Jim stubbornly towering over him. To Blair this reflected the dynamics of how they handled all matters pertaining to the Sentinel side of their partnership. 'Now that's not fair he caves when it really matters,' he corrected himself. He was not going to be having a pity party.

For a while he had entertained the hope after Jim had opened up to him that Monday several weeks ago that they had finally progressed past the need to hide things from each other. He had thought that he had earned the Detective's trust. Clearly he had been wrong. "This is how it always plays out, Jim. We hold back and then bam something happens as a direct result and we are forced to pick up the pieces of our friendship because one of us decided not to be open and honest about something important. Geez, weren't you the one just a while back telling me you had learned that we couldn't keep things bottled up from each other? What ever happened there, huh?" He searched Jim's face for any sign of understanding. The man was still too focused on what he had done not the why of the matter.

Sandburg pushed up from the floor to stand in the center of the kitchen. He was at a loss as to how to reach his friend and make his point. He spread his arms in a placating gesture, "Well I am too exhausted to deal with this. So either spill it or I am staying in a hotel tonight and I swear to god I will threaten Simon and the precinct with a lawsuit if you or any of your army of plain clothes officers so much as thinks about following me."

The muscles in Ellison's neck and jaw were twitching like a convict in the electric chair. 'What do I do? What do I say to him?' He was in the proverbial corner since he knew Blair would carry out his threat if pushed. He was going to have to pony up to what he had done and just deal with the backlash. 'Thank you very much Professor Stoddard.' Jim felt sick to his stomach.

The chuckle was back as Blair saw the look of abject horror on his friend's face. "Well what's it gonna be?" He waited a few more seconds for some form of response but when it became apparent there might be none he started to turn to leave.

"Wait!"

Sandburg slowly turned back around to face his friend. He had finally made his point it seemed. "Yes?"

"Cooper didn't destroy everything like you were led to believe. Eli called last week to tell me some of his notes he'd thought lost in the fire were recovered. I asked Stoddard to withhold the notes on Burton's Journal from you until I'd had an opportunity to review them first. I - I just needed to know...I wanted to know as much about this connection before I made my decision. I was afraid you or even I would be spooked into bailing on this whole Sentinel thing. Eli told me I should have more faith in you but I was scared. Geez Chief, look at how much I depend on you already. Sometimes it makes me so upset that I need to have you around. From what you told me all ready this would cement you to my side. At first that scared the crap out of me but after the last couple of weeks of having you here 24/7...I was starting to get used to it, even liked it. Then it dawned on me what if you didn't want the bond? I've been paranoid you might finally realize my friendship isn't worth all the resentment you deal with from me all the time, Chief. " Jim had laid most of the truth out there. The fact that Eli Stoddard was Blair's father was a bit of information he was still deciding whether or not to share yet.

"Whoa. Okay well that's a lot to process." A large grin split across the anthropologist's face. He walked over to Jim who tensed as he approached him. The glare he had gone, replaced now by a sad fondness. "See now that wasn't so hard. Was it?" He rewarded his at times emotionally retarded best friend with a bear hug.

"You're not upset with me?"

"Well the whole wrist thing kinda hurt, but I shouldn't have tried that with you. You can just be so infuriatingly frustrating at times." Sandburg stood back to give the man his personal space. He rubbed at his injured hand and wrist.

"Plus I got to tell you I am seriously fed up with the alarming amount of physical abuse you've been directing at me lately; but I'm gonna excuse that, for the time being, as a result of the high levels of stress we have been subjected to lately."

Jim's mouth opened to interject but he was cut off by Blair's, "Not finished." he snapped his mouth closed allowing the kid to say his peace.

"Not to mention the lack of trust in me is really difficult to accept." He spun around his arms flying out to encompass their home around them. "It hurts to see you still haven't realized I am in this for the long haul. That you still resent my sacrifices for this friendship. If death couldn't scare me away do you really think any of this mystical stuff is going to push me away?" Blair looked up into the stern face of his best friend. He grasped Jim's upper arms and made certain he had Jim's complete attention. "I know you have these fear based responses Jim, I realize they are there because of legitimate trials you have endured in your life and I am trying my best to work with you on them. You aren't the only one who feels like they have to rely on someone else most of the time. I don't resent you for everything you have done for me." He hung his head as he said next, "But if you don't start giving me a little more credit…placing just a bit more trust in me and in my dedication to our friendship and partnership it won't be anything that has to do with this Sentinel stuff that will tear me from your side man but it'll be you yourself that pushes me away. Do you want that so bad? Your freedom from me and these senses?"

Blair let his hands drop away and took a step back from his friend. He took a second to compose himself. He shoved his hand into his jeans pocket fishing out a hair tie. He started to pull back the mop of curls. They were expected at the precinct in just over an hour and they needed to eat something before they left. As he snatched up the apron that Jim normally wore while cooking he regarded his silent friend with a discerning gaze. "I am not upset with you. Frustrated, yeah - definitely frustrated, but not upset." He slipped the apron over his head and heaved a great sigh. He tried to appreciate the effort it had taken Jim to open up to him and be honest about what he had done and why, but the hurt was very deep. He was painfully aware too of the fact that other than informing him of the notes from Eli, Jim had taken no steps to share their contents with him yet. He wouldn't push. He desperately wanted to, but he would give his best friend the chance to do this on his own. He only prayed that Jim wouldn't miss out on the opportunity to display his trust in him.

Ellison was at a loss over how to handle this. How had his simple life as a bachelor turned into such a complicated emotional roller coaster with the addition of these senses? It was simple. Very shortly after Blair had begun to guide him in the use of his senses he had also wormed his way into every aspect of Jim's life. He was his best friend, closer than any relatives he had. For the very first time Jim found himself struggling to figure out how to be a good friend rather than the unhappy and disliked solitary figure he had always been known as.

Ellison knew what Blair had said was true. He had been fouling up left and right in the friendship department despite his efforts to the contrary. He never could hide things from his guide well. He had been trying to explain that to Eli a short while ago. Blair was too tuned into him. He could tell when something was off with him.

As he watched his friend fix them each a quick lunch before they left for the station he knew Blair was giving him time to rectify what he had done. So zoned out in his thoughts was Jim, that Blair almost finished making the subs for them before he moved from his position against the counter top. Jim pulled out the rolled up file from his back pocket. He looked down at it and sighed, things had been strained before with just the Sentinel thing. When Sandburg read this he might very well cave under all the strain. He smacked the papers against his palm repeatedly mulling his choices over.

The detective walked over to the figure working at the kitchen island and placed a heavy hand on the smaller shoulder. He removed the chef's knife from his grasp and steered his friend over to the dining table.

"Jim?"

"Eli gave me two sets of notes, Chief. His academic documentations of Burton's second journal as well as his own personal notes on what it was he was reading. Sit."

Blair obeyed, a slight shiver coursing up his spine at how his older friend was behaving.

"I am giving you these. But I want you to know I only read them today about an hour before you got here. This is the first time I have learned what is inside them. And I really suggest you hold off on reading Eli's personal notes until we get done with the station. In fact I want you to promise me you won't read that part of the file until we are back at the loft tonight. Can you do that for me, Blair?"

"Jim you're kind of scaring me here."

"After this last month's actions, well, let that be a testament to how serious I am about you keeping your word over this."

"So I can read the official notes on the journal anytime, but not Eli's personal notes until tonight? I just want to make sure I have this correct."

"Yes, smart Alec. Just wait till we get home before you read them, please. And thanks Chief for once more wildly exceeding my expectations as my Guide and friend."

Blair's mouth hung open. He was in shock. That had been quite a nice 'actual' compliment from his roommate. Mouth agape he pulled his gaze from Jim to the small file of papers his best friend had placed on the table beside him. He gulped; he was beginning to be filled with an eerie dread over what he might find in those documents.

Jim couldn't resist, he reached out his hand to lift the kid's jaw and close his mouth. "Please don't hate me because of my hang ups, Chief. I know you don't deserve my resentment its just a part of me I have to work through."

"Who are you and what have you done with my roommate?"

Jim cuffed him upside his curly head. He turned to pack up the food that had been used for making lunch when the blinking light of the answering machine caught his attention. 'Must've missed that when I got home.' He walked over and hit the button on the machine to play the single message it was informing them they had, then headed back towards his chore in the kitchen.

Beep*Beep*Beep

[Hi, sweetie. It's me. All your messages finally managed to find their way out to me. Sorry about the delay in getting back to you. Glad to hear you are all right, baby. The retreat was gorgeous. They were so knowledgeable about my meridians and helping me to cleanse myself, Blair Bear. I met this really nice guy out here. His aura is outstanding; it reminds me of Jimmy. Tell him I say hello by the way. Oh it was so wonderful baby. I think I am going to stay here a bit longer. They make the most beautiful ceremonial pieces. There is this nice old shaman who-well I think I'm out of time. I wrote it all in my letter to you. I doubt this tape will hold all the wonders I have to share with you anyways. It should reach you soon. My guy friend helped me out with the gift. You should visit us here. Ooh I hate that I missed you but I will hear from you soon I am sure. Detaching with love baby.]

Beeeeeeep!

Blair glanced over at Jim, a huge grin on his face the events of the day momentarily forgotten. "Naomi met another guy. Phew now you two can hang out safely."

"Blair Bear?"

Blair's face turned a deep shade of scarlet as Jim just shook his head laughing.


	8. Chapter 8

After lunch was eaten in somewhat comfortable silence they packed up their things and left the loft. Jim drove them to the station with Blair in the passenger seat being unusually quiet. He darted a glance towards the silent anthropologist. The kid had his glasses on and was nose deep into the notes Jim had relinquished. A small tendril of fear seized his heart at the sight. 'No Blair is a lot better at keeping his word than I am. Relax. '

Without looking away from his reading material Blair spoke, breaking the stillness of the truck's cab interior. "You know there are a lot of references to Eli's personal notes throughout this, Jim."

Ellison stiffened in his seat. Had he made the right decision?

"It was only an observation, man." He pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose, "Not until we get home, I promised." Sandburg didn't even have to glance at the cab's other occupant to know his words had a reassuring effect on the Detective. "Here," he pulled out the section of papers which were clearly handwritten and informal. Whatever was contained within these was making his best friend more uncomfortable than a cat on a hot tin roof. He popped open the glove compartment and stuffed the papers inside. "This is where they will stay until we return home tonight. Does that help you relax?"

Ellison silently nodded, rewarding his younger companion with a tense smile. A moment later Jim had pulled them into the underground garage, parking the truck close to the stairwell and turning the engine off. "We're here, Chief." As he unbuckled himself he could see Blair's head whip up, surprised with the speed with which they had arrived at the station. 'Time flies when you are a book worm,' he thought affectionately. He hopped out of the truck slamming the door shut behind him.

As was the Sentinel's custom he extended his senses to encompass the entire building. He categorized all the sounds and found that all the noises associated with the Cascade Police Station fell within the normal parameters Blair had made him memorize quite a while ago. A task Sandburg said needed doing to prevent another Kincaid. Finding nothing out of place he shifted his focus to his partner scurrying out of the cab to join him. He watched as the student struggled to shove several notebooks and packets of papers into his ever-present backpack. Once more he was forced to ask why Sandburg felt lugging that fifty odd pound weight around was so necessary.

As Blair followed Jim onto the elevator he shook his head, "I've already told you like a thousand times, Jim." He shuffled back into the corner of the small space allowing room for the half dozen other officers to board the elevator. "I always carry tons of research material and school assignments with me. I can't afford to miss an opportunity to get some schoolwork done. You don't always have things for me to do while I am here with you or out in the field and I need to make the most of my time. Its one of the only reasons I am granted as much freedom at the university." In a more hushed voice only Jim could hear he explained it to his friend once more with the patience of a teacher trying to help a very slow student grasp a particularly difficult concept. "Besides I've told you. If anything were to happen to me the most important notes on how to help you: if you were to zone out, spike, or you know...something, are in here for Megan and Simon to use. It's not as if they might have the time to run to the loft to retrieve the main research. You could die in the time it would take them to get you the help that you needed." He hitched the heavy sack up higher onto his shoulder. "No carrying this thing around is a small price to pay to ensure your safety."

During the somewhat uncomfortable explanation most of the other officers had exited at different floors. By the time the two of them were alone Jim was glad for the space to breathe. He appreciated how Sandburg always seemed to think ahead about this sentinel stuff. But the idea of something happening to the kid again left Jim feeling itchy and grumpy. "Yeah we'll let's hope it never comes down to that, okay Chief?"

"Well obviously, man." The subject matter made Blair anxious too but he vented his nervous energy by bouncing on the balls of his feet. He felt Jim's hand gently press down on his shoulder trying to stymie the distracting habit.

Jim rolled his eyes. He had long ago resigned himself to the fact that as the Sentinel he pretty much only responded to the anthropologist when he needed help with his senses. Recent developments only explained why that had been the case and reinforced the need to keep Blair safe and out of harms way. He had a large stake in the twenty-eight year old remaining uninjured, it meant not just his sanity, but apparently it could also mean his life. Granted that wasn't the most important reason, but excusing it in such a clinical manner seemed easier than facing the truth: This was his best friend, brother in all but blood, and he would not lose him again. In Jim's eyes Blair was all the family he needed, it left him feeling quite vulnerable.

Blair read how uncomfortable this conversation made Jim and so he casually changed the subject. "Onto other more pleasant topics for discussion. I was hoping to visit the evidence lock up to look at that figurine you said Rafe found at the music store. If it really is an ancient South American musical instrument and the way he described it to me I have no reason to disbelieve it, I would really like to have a look at it." He looked with pleading eyes up to the only man who could give him permission to forge his signature. Not that that little fact had ever stopped him in the past, but he was trying his best not to aggravate an already tense working partnership.

Jim rolled his eyes. He extended his hand out to hold the close button for the elevator doors, giving them a couple extra seconds of privacy. "I don't see a problem with that. But only to look at, not check out. No showing evidence off to pretty faces, got it?" He watched as Blair nodded his head excitedly. "I can send you down with Rafe-"

Blair erupted in exaggerated disbelief. He threw his arms in the air whirling around in the confined space. "I don't need a babysitter!"

"I didn't say you did. It would just make me feel better knowing there was someone near you that I trusted. I would go myself but I am already running late for my debriefing with Simon."

"Jim it's the middle of the police station! I have been patient this past month with the escorts and body guards but I really need some space man. You know Cooper isn't around." To punctuate the fact Sandburg grabbed Jim's bare hand and held it in his own. He looked at his Sentinel expectantly, "Feel anything?"

Feeling rather awkward about the contact Jim tried to yank his hand back. Blair refused to let him go though. A week ago Sandburg had belatedly theorized the tingling that they both noticed that first morning when Cooper had appeared only happened when there was another Sentinel around. To test the fact Blair had pushed Jim to make a trip with him to Conover to visit with the only other known Sentinel. Jim had obstinately resisted, not wanting Blair anywhere near Alex, but eventually Blair's arguments had won him over. He had hoped that since the instincts that pushed them to mate were no longer manifesting themselves that maybe Jim would react to her presence in the same way he had reacted to Andrew's. The kid had been spot on. The tingling manifested the moment they came within close proximity to the facility. Blair had been grateful that in the end they hadn't had to go inside and actually touch the woman. Plus, Jim had left satisfied in the knowledge that they now had one more early detection method to keeping his Guide safe. For Blair however he had been ecstatic over another new development in Jim's senses.

Now as Jim pulled his hand out of Blair's grasp he regretted the fact that Blair could use this knowledge to argue his case. He acknowledged what his Guide already could sense. There had been no electrical charge when their skin had made contact. "Fine you can go down by yourself."

"Thanks for the permission, dad."

Releasing the close door button, James Ellison felt his pulse race at hearing those words. 'It's a joke, only a joke. He doesn't know yet.' He hoped he had disguised his reaction to the jibe from Blair well enough. He walked off the elevator with Sandburg in tow. He left his partner at his desk and walked straight to the office of his friend and superior Cpt. Simon Banks. The detective knocked at the closed door firmly. When a gruff 'come in' was elicited then he sent a look back to Blair that asked the kid to wish him luck.

Blair watched as Jim ducked inside of the Captain's office. He glanced at the desk and the distinct lack of files on it. The other members of Major Crimes had been helping to carry Jim's caseload so that the detective could focus his attention on locating Blair's assailant. Realizing that there wouldn't be much of anything to do for him here he looked over to the clock on the far wall. He had at least fifteen minutes going by the chewing out he could hear Simon directing towards Jim. Plenty of time to head down to evidence and take a peek at the figurine he had been hoping to catch a glimpse of before it was shipped back to the museum from where it had been stolen.

Quickly Blair printed out the form he would need to bring and filled it out expertly. He smiled wondering whether Jim could even remember how to fill one of these forms out for himself anymore. It had to have been at least a year since he had seen the man take evidence out on his own. Nowadays Jim had his own personal secretary who was normally assigned that task. He signed the document with a flourish and then left the bullpen heading back to the elevator.

Less than five minutes later he was standing at the door to the evidence cage waiting to be buzzed in. "Thanks, Sally."

"No problem, Blair. Just remember to put everything back where it belongs resealed with the appropriate stickers."

"Will do. Hey and tell Carl I said hi. I can't wait to try his next creation. That last pizza was out of this world!" Blair waved back at the petite brunette officer sitting at the desk. He heard the loud buzz and pushed the handle to go inside.

Brown and Rafe had been working on a smuggling case the last few weeks. Rare South American Antiquities being sold through a music store-front in downtown Cascade. One of the items he had heard being described was a small clay stylized figurine of a wolf, filled with holes, the size of an average adult hand and with what seemed to be a stem jutting out from it where the tail would be. It didn't take long for Blair to find what he was looking for and when he did his eyes shone bright with awe and amazement. He dropped his backpack on the floor at the base of the shelving unit where he had found the artifact. He stooped over to pull out his note pad and began taking down quick notes about the little figurine. He sketched a drawing of what it looked like and then set the notes aside. He carefully cut the seal on the evidence bag and held the small instrument in his hand. None of the officers had known what it was but the instant it had been described Blair knew.

"An ancient Peruvian Whistling Vessel." Blair's fingers reverently stroked the worn clay. He had researched these small musical instruments a long time ago, back when Incacha had first passed on the way of the Shaman to him. It was believed that Shamans would use the small flute like instruments as tools to heal and induce trances, helping even to enhance psychic abilities. The pre-Columbian Shamans closely guarded this shamanic knowledge.

The research Blair uncovered showed that ancient Shamans claimed they had devised a way to open portals and to commune with Celestial Beings using the instruments. They were frequently made in the likeness of animals or people, with the intention that whatever creature it resembled the strengths of that subject would transfer to the user. Ceremonies where shamans used the whistles often afforded them the ability to open their minds to higher levels of consciousness and download ancient knowledge - contact with animal guides and the supernatural world.

He felt an overwhelming urge to bring it to his lips and try it out. A small voice in the back of his mind that sounded suspiciously like Jim growled at him to not even think about it, and he sighed. Deciding that to study it any longer would be too much of a temptation Blair placed the beautiful piece of history back in the evidence bag and sealed it the way he was supposed to. He had just returned it to its spot on the shelf when Sally stumbled in. He turned to greet her and smiled at the sight that greeted him.

"Blair can you help me with this evidence box? Hastings left it for me and I said I would restock it. But I didn't think it would weigh this much."

"Sure, no problem." Blair quickly rushed to the female officer's side. She was struggling under the obvious weight of the awkwardly large box. Even with his help the two of them had a hard time of getting it stowed away on the shelves. It took several attempts and in the end Blair fell against the shelving unit making the whole thing shudder ominously. He groaned in embarrassment as he was pinned under the weight of the large box that Sally had apparently lost the hold of.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you okay? I knew I should have made Hastings put it away, the lazy bum. Are you sure you are all right? Jim is so going to kill me if I broke you." Sally gripped one side of the evidence box and tugged at it until it slid off Sandburg's lap.

"Nothing is hurt aside from my dignity and perhaps my pride." Blair climbed to his feet and smiled over at the clerical officer. He had his hands on his hips as he glared down at the box. "All right this is personal now!" In one swift move he crouched down scooped up the box wincing at the way his wrist protested the further mistreatment and with all of his strength hefted it off the ground over his shoulder and onto the assigned shelf where it belonged. The small lock up cage rattled with the force it had required to accomplish the task.

Sally laughed and swooned dramatically, "My hero." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek, laughing even harder at the blush she had elicited out of him.

"Sally there are cameras! Carl will kill me if he ever sees that." He quickly scooped up his notepad shoving it in his backpack and zipping the sack up. He was so flustered he never noticed that the small wolf whistle disrupted by repeated jostling from their attempts at putting the evidence box away had fallen into his backpack. Swinging the pack over his shoulder he quickly made his exit shielding his butt from the unwanted attention Sally was jokingly paying it. "See ya, Sals."

"I'll send Carl your regards!" Came the parting feminine laugh.

"You're evil!"


	9. Chapter 9

Sandburg strode off the elevator and through the double doors into the bullpen. He headed straight to Jim's desk and dropped his backpack into the detective's seat. He thought wistfully about the whistle he'd left behind. He'd have to remember to get in touch with the museum in Peru to see about an exchange of artifacts.

Noticing Jim wasn't at his desk he looked around for his best friend, catching a glimpse of the man through the shuttered blinds of the Captain's office. Simon and Jim still looked to be deep in a heated discussion. He was impressed that they were able to keep their voices down since it was obvious they were at odds with each other.

"They've been at it for twenty minutes already." Megan Connor spoke quietly behind him, her hand resting on his shoulder comfortingly. "Simon's got the mayor breathing down his throat, upset that his best detective could be granted time off while there are such heavy case loads for the rest of us lowly detectives to bear."

Sandburg turned to look her in the face, not sure if he'd heard her correctly. "Jim asked for time off?"

She returned his look of surprise with one of her own. "He told us in the break room that you two were going away for some school thingy you've going on." She watched as he absorbed the information then quickly tried to adapt to news he'd only just heard about.

Blair hastily nodded his head to confirm what Megan had said. "Yeah, he's helping me with an expedition in Spokane. Can't believe I forgot!" He thumped his palm against the side of his head adding to the charade. Once again it seemed Jim had neglected to confide in him what he was planning to do. He backed up his friend's story, albeit angry at being put in a position where he had to lie to the other members of Major Crimes.

Megan paused, had it been anyone else the ruse might've been taken at face value but she knew him well. Almost everyone in Major Crimes had been educated in identifying the B.S. Blair could throw around when he felt the need arise. Jim had insisted on it. What she'd seen in the police observer's eyes for that brief split second before was genuine ignorance about these so-called plans of Jim's.

"Some professors I know found this fantastic ancient indian village that's surprisingly well preserved and so I've been requested to come along. And well, we all know Jim doesn't get to take breaks often, so I kinda implied that I needed him to tag along. Don't tell him though, please. He might try to recant." The lie fell easily from his lips, he only hoped it was believable. Living with Jim had made his at one time well-practiced skill of lying through his teeth almost second nature to him now, like breathing air.

Megan stood back with her arms crossed and thought whether or not she wanted to call him out on the lie. She glanced over at the office of her captain and decided he'd be suffering enough for one morning without her adding to it. "Dandy, but you're both full of it. I need to head down to records for a minute. I'll be back, see that you don't go getting yourself into any trouble while I'm away." And with that she spun around and huffed away.

Blair expelled the breath of air he hadn't realized he'd been holding in. He had the distinct feeling Megan had read through his lie. He was grateful at least that she decided to spare him any interrogation.

Sandburg shoved the chair with his pack aside and leaned over his best friend's desk to see how he could make himself useful while Jim was detained. He spotted a few files that had conveniently appeared since he was last there, some unfinished paperwork, and a small manila envelope addressed to him. He recognized his Naomi's handwriting instantly. This is what she'd been referring to in her message. It was such a rare treat when his mother would get in touch with him, especially while she was away on some retreat. But occasionally she would do just that. Usually she would send a small letter about some new thing she'd experienced and they were almost always accompanied by a little gift or artifact she'd procured for him. He snatched up the small envelope and examined it in his hands, finding that it was rather heavy for its size.

As per the norm Jim noted Blair's arrival then filed the information away as he continued arguing with his friend and superior. He was trying to get his Simon to allow him to keep the time off he had been granted earlier. Normally this kind of thing would've been no issue; once granted a leave of absence you were generally in the free and clear. Only this time apparently his timing had been off. Recently a wave of burglaries had broken out. Most of the targets had been among the upper echelons of society. Friends of the Mayor mostly and as a result the influential official was demanding Cascade's finest to bring the criminals to justice.

"I hate to revoke it Jim, but your timing couldn't be worse. I have the Chief breathing down my neck to catch these guys. He wants you on it by request of the Mayor. Brown and Rafe can't take it cause of the smuggling case they are working on, otherwise I would have them pick it up."

"I realize that Simon but-" As always the Sentinel's senses had picked up on the presence of his young guide the instant he had walked off the elevator keeping a mental tab on the young man. As a result the moment he heard Blair's heart rate elevate he was immediately aware of it. "But with Cooper still-" A sideways glance out of the windows showed him his partner talking with Connor. Jim dismissed the spike as excitement with being around the Aussie. But when it happened again he felt his nerves begin to twitch in irritation and anticipation.

"Ellison are you even paying attention to me?!"

Holding up his hand to Simon, Jim paused his boss' disgruntled tirade, "Excuse me for a moment, Sir." Without a backwards glance he opened the door to the office he was in and poked his head out. He called out to his partner, "Hey, Sandburg, everything all right?"

A certain cigar-wielding giant in the background was beginning to wish very hard that he had never heard of Sentinels and their wayward Guides. "Ellison."

In the background Blair acknowledged the sound of Captain Banks' office door opening, followed by his name being called out hesitantly. "Yeah man everything's fine." Blair tore his gaze away from the parcel in his hand grinning up at Jim with barely contained joy. The sight of his best friend reminded him of Megan, their conversation from earlier and the subsequent unmentioned trip she had informed him of. He couldn't conceal the frown that broke his smile, "Megan was just reminding me of our little trip...seems I forgot about it." He allowed the subtle way he spoke to convey his feelings on the matter.

'Shoot, word spreads quick through the department.' Jim scratched his jaw, "Right about that-"

Blair turned away from his partner. "Hey, no worries. I should be used to this by now, man." The smile returned threefold even though his words held a hint of bitterness to them. He looked back down at the package in his hands examining it as though he were a kid at the holidays. The Police Observer felt like his face was going to split in two from the smile his mother's gift was putting there. After such a crazy month he was all too happy for the distraction this brought him. When he looked back over his shoulder he saw the frown on Jim's face but it did nothing to diminish his joy. With a wave of his hand he dismissed the concerned look from his Sentinel. He remained with his back turned shielding his gift from prying eyes while he perched on the edge of Jim's desk.

"Ehem! If you two are quite done..." Simon bit out.

"Listen can we talk when I get out of here, Chief? Just stay there." And though his instincts were still ringing Ellison drew back into the office to finish with his Captain.

"Now as I was saying. I can't afford to lose you right now. I have to revoke the leave of absence I granted you, sorry. End of discussion. Besides this idea of yours is out of the question. I can't believe you would even entertain the thought. Using the kid as bait to draw Cooper out? There are so many ways that could backfire in our faces!" Simon had to make his subordinate see reason.

"Sandburg is getting fed up with my efforts to keep him safe and I can't blame him. Even I'm feeling more and more on edge lately. I've been keeping my senses turned up pretty high because of all this. I think forcing his hand and drawing him out of hiding is a far cry better than letting him be in control of making the first move." Jim's gut wrenched at the verbalization of his plan. This went against every instinct he had as the designated Blessed Protector.

Simon Banks worried the pen in between his lips, mulling over what his lead detective was proposing.

Out in the bullpen Blair snatched up a letter opener from the top drawer of the desk he was sitting on. The letter had been sent from a place in Colorado called Manitou Springs. He remembered back when Naomi had taken him there as a kid to explore the cliff dwellings that had been preserved as national treasures. Eagerly he slit the envelope open and tipped the contents of the package out into his palm. A heavy sterling silver bracelet landed in his hand followed by a letter. 'oooh shiny.'

Inside Bank's office Simon watched as yet again Jim's eyes glazed over and the man's nostrils flared. Simon growled in frustration as he watched his best detective then sniff at the air like some kind of wild dog. Having any type of conversation with the man was getting to be more and more impossible. How did he normally speak to the Detective?' Sandburg, of course. Lately all the kid seemed to do was keep Ellison in line.'

"Blair?" Jim's voice growled out. He felt an unsettling fear grip his heart. Turning to look out the office windows he saw his partner safely at his desk his back turned to them. He shook his head trying to dismiss the sudden anger he felt welling up. 'What the devil is he doing out there?'

"Ellison, why do you even bother coming in here without your partner?"

The question was ignored as Jim whipped around, flinging himself at the door again and shouting at Sandburg to get his attention. "Hey, Chief. Sandburg!" Why wouldn't the young man turn around and acknowledge him?

Back out in the bullpen a small gasp escaped Blair's lips as he looked at the symbols etched into the metal. They were very familiar. He absently bent over to store the letter and envelope in the front pocket of his backpack, zipping it shut when they were safely tucked inside. A deeply buried memory tried to claw its way to the surface. The bracelet was new but not the patterns and markings on it. They were very old, ancient really. His fingers began to trace the carvings in captivated awe. He felt his world teeter on its axis as he stroked the markings. Before he even realized what he was doing he'd slipped the bracelet over his hand onto his wrist.

"Sandburg!" Jim roared from the threshold of the Captain's office.

There was a bull charging towards him, Blair was sure. Why else would his entire world begin to vibrate? For a moment, as Sandburg looked up from the bracelet encircling his wrist to the figure of his best friend pulling a Matrix move on him, it seemed that Jim was walking sideways in slow motion. And for that matter how did the floor change orientation? His ears felt full like his ear canal was being inflated and his eardrums were about to pop. They were hot too and ringing. He blinked a few times trying to clear away the grey and white encroaching on his peripheral vision. He took a deep breath trying to get more oxygen to his brain to stop the room from spinning. He was aware of Megan's shout of alarm as he felt himself become weigthless.


	10. Chapter 10

One moment Blair was sitting on the edge of Jim's desk and in the blink of an eye he was lying on his back with a group of faceless blobs staring down at him from above. "Wha-?"

"Just lay still, Hairboy. You decided to take a nap on the floor."

Blair ignored Henri Brown's admonition and began sitting up.

"Gave us all a right good fright there, Sandy." Megan offered, trying in vain to keep the longhaired young man down with a firm hand.

"I passed out?" Blair groaned, as if Jim wasn't over protective enough, if he was seen now he would have to deal with the mother hen from hell routine all over again. "Help me up before Jim sees me." Someone helped him sit upright and he gasped as a wave of vertigo made his head swim.

Blair squinted trying to get the fuzzy faces floating around him to focus. He gingerly lifted his right hand up to the back of his head to feel a spot at the back of his skull that was throbbing. 'Must've hit the floor hard.' Around him several small gasps were uttered as the loose long sleeve sweatshirt he was wearing fell back the length of his arm revealing a large angry hand shaped bruise circling his wrist.

"Sandy! Who did that to you?!" "Hairboy? Your wrist...where did that bruise come from?" "Good lord Blair, what happened?" "That had to hurt slick." Four of his close friends all simultaneously pounced on him with their concerns. It was Rafe who reached out to catch his wrist and examine it more closely though.

"Really guys I need to get up," Blair hissed urgently. He had just got Jim to relent on his amount of hovering, if he was perceived as any more vulnerable than normal it would threaten his new found freedom.

Several suspicious eyes looked the police observer over. They were all aware that as the team of recent officers who had been assigned as bodyguards to Sandburg after the attempted kidnapping there existed a narrow list of sources for the kid's injury.

Sharpened minds started to analyze what it was they were seeing. The police observer's paranoid urgency at not being seen in his current state by Ellison had most of them forming quick assumptions. It didn't escape the small crowd's notice how Sandburg quickly pulled his arm free, lowering it and pulling the sleeve down to hide the vivid bruise. Their suspicions were fueled when they caught the guilty and sheepish way the kid tried to dismiss the marks as nothing. These were seasoned Detectives. Sadly, they had all had the unfortunate experience of taking a domestic abuse victim's testimony and the way their friend was acting had everyone's eyebrows up in shock.

Realizing the impression he'd mistakenly given Jim's co-workers Blair rushed to correct the small group, "Guys, it's not what you think." Sandburg's vision was steadying, giving him the unpleasant sight of four very upset Detectives huddling protectively around him. As if the conclusion they had jumped to wasn't bad enough Blair could now see Jim trying to push through the crowd of spectators surrounding him to get to his side. And the look on his best friend's face was not a happy one.

"Sandburg? What in the world happened? What did you do?" Jim growled out as he tried to push past Henri. He couldn't seem to leave the anthropologist alone for one measly second before something was happening to the kid or as a result of him. 'Glorified trouble magnet.' Henri jumped into his way right as he reached his Guide. Jim looked down at the restraining hand held out to his chest, bristling. "Get out of my way, H."

"Back off, Ellison. The kid's all right. Just keep your distance." Henri Brown stood his ground. He'd never think it possible but he couldn't dismiss the evidence that was right behind him. He hastened to protect the young man who'd quickly become a friend to him and the other officers.

"Brown, you have till the count of three to let me get to my partner before I move you out of the way myself." Jim was losing his patience. The Sentinel's ears were filled with the accelerated heartbeat of his guide. The itchy feeling he had felt back in Simon's office had taken up permanent residence at the base of his spine. He was quickly moving from irritated to irate. He needed to assure himself that the young man was indeed unharmed beyond a few bumps and bruises. Physical contact would accomplish that as well as help the Sentinel to ground himself. If only his fellow officers would move out of the way. Somewhere in the recesses of Jim's mind a small voice was telling him that these were his and Blair's friends. That they were only trying to protect his partner from a perceived threat. The problem was that he couldn't seem to give a care what the small voice of reason told him. The facts were they were keeping him from his Guide. "Three."

Blair groaned, 'Uh-oh, this is bad.' He could see that slightly primal focused look from a few weeks ago taking hold of Jim once again. "I'm up, I'm up! Everything's fine, Jim." He moved hastily to get to his feet, but in his woozy state he forgot to use his left hand to support his weight and crumpled back to the floor when his right wrist gave out. "Ow, ow, ow!" he sat back on his butt cradling the injured appendage. 'So much for calming things down.' Blair willed his racing heart to slow. "H, please let him through," he said through clenched teeth.

"Two." The Sentinel closed the space in between Brown and himself, invading the other man's personal space.

Megan who had been glaring at Ellison rounded on Blair. "Are you out of your mind? Look at what he did to your wrist!" she hissed trying not to draw the attention of too many people.

Blair scrambled to his feet shrugging off the arms trying in vain to keep him still. Things were quickly spiraling out of control. He could see Jim's face just on the other side of Brown and the level of irritation his Sentinel was experiencing would only spell disaster to all those in his way when the man finally erupted. Beyond him Simon was also making his way over to see what all the fuss was about. "It was an accident, honest. It really wasn't Jim's fault."

"Oh really?! How do you accidently have someone grab you hard enough to leave that kind of a bruise, Blair?" This time it was Rafe who snapped at Blair. "There's no excuse for that. I don't care what you did. What if he'd broken your wrist? What then? It'd be pretty tough grading and writing papers with a broken wrist for the rest of the semester."

"One. That's it get out of the freaking way all of you!" Ellison shoved past the wall of officers, breaking through the protective ranks to place himself between Sandburg and the others. His hands immediately set to work skimming over Blair's body in search of any injuries that he might have suffered. To his horror the wrist he'd mishandled back at the loft was in fact sporting a vivid bruise that matched his own hand perfectly. To his chagrin he found himself angered even more by the sight of it. Jim clenched his eyes shut taking a quick cleansing breath. 'What is wrong with me?!' He caught the police observer's chin and lifted his face to look into a pair of forgiving and embarrassed eyes. He answered Blair's look with a remorseful look of his own. He could hear Blair muttering that he needed to calm down and that everything was all right, but he was so worked up not even the hand resting on his forearm was enough to get him to relax.

Simon's bellow floated above the heads of the members of Major Crimes, "Sandburg! You had better have a good explanation for what's going on."

Blair could feel the Sentinel tense at the perceived threat Simon was unwittingly projecting at him. "Come on, man. Cool it. This is no time to go primal on me," he whispered the quick plea while tightening his grip on Jim's bicep. He made the quick mental note that there still wasn't any tingling in their contact. 'Okay so we can discount that as the source of his irritability,' Blair flashed his most disarming smile at the Commanding Officer. The big man stopped short at the sight of Ellison practically snarling at anyone who tried to get too close to Blair. "Simon, Jim isn't really feeling himself right now. I think it'd be best if I took him home. Made him get some rest. You know that sort of thing."

"I'm fine, Sir. Or at least I would've been if Henri would've just backed out of my face a moment ago. Since when did we start getting in the way of partners coming to the aid of each other?" Jim had been addressing his Captain but his eyes had locked gazes with Henri for the last comment.

Rafe bristled in defense of his partner's actions. "Oh-Well, since when did it become normal practice for a Senior Detective to abuse their civilian partner?!" He spun around to face Simon, "H was just trying to keep Jim away so we could get the truth out of Hairboy without him feeling intimidated by bozo over here. "

In a pose he adopted when he would brook no crap or obfuscating, Simon placed his hands on his hips in a stance that spoke of being ready to take anyone on. He glared over at Blair with a concerned paternal expression on his face. "Is this true Sandburg?"

"I can't believe this, Sir!" Jim said in outrage.

Blair's eyes were wide as saucers looking out from around the back of Ellison where he was being forcibly separated from his other friends. 'Tell me he isn't serious.' He had no desire to lie to Simon but he also knew the others wouldn't understand the situation Jim was currently in. "Could we talk about this a little later, Simon. I really think I should be getting Jim home." He cleared his throat trying to discreetly convey the message that they were having Sentinel related issues. He visibly relaxed when the larger man's lips formed a silent 'oh'.

Ellison growled with the realization that things were being communicated behind his back. "I don't need you to speak for me, Sandburg. And I don't need to go home."

"Sure, man. I know that. Just chill, Jim. I'm only trying to help."

"I didn't ask for your help."

Simon silently watched the interchange. Would there ever come a time when Jim wouldn't always rebuff the police observer's efforts to help him? He pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. He hated how it was never easy with these two. Looking at the possessive and aggressive stance his detective was taking against the other members of major crimes Simon made up his mind. He looked at Blair's big beseeching eyes, "Sandburg, are you sure that taking him home is the only solution? I'd needed Jim here. Can't you fix this here?"

"This might take some time, Simon."

"Sir with all due respect-" "But Sandy can't!" "What if he hurts Hairboy again?" "There ain't no way Ellison's taking shorty!" The chorus of outrage surrounding Simon Banks rose in volume as each detective tried to argue over keeping Sandburg away from Ellison. He dragged a large hand down the side of his face groaning at the chaos surrounding him.

Rhonda called out over the cacophony, "Captain Banks, sir? You have a call on line two. Its the Mayor, and he sounds quite upset."

Simon pushed the glasses further up the bridge of his nose and sliced his hand through the air authoritatively. "Enough!" He extricated himself from the crowd and walked over to his secretary's desk never breaking eye contact with his group of subordinates. "Everyone just stay." When he felt confident of their obedience he turned his back to them all focusing his attention on his phone call.

Once the detectives saw their Captain's focus shift they all slowly turned to stare Ellison and Sandburg down accusingly.

Blair stiffened indignantly quickly maneuvering around the sentinel to place himself between Jim and their angry friends. "Don't you all give me that look," he hissed at them careful not to draw Simon's attention.

Megan was the first one to muster the courage to step forward. "You're not one to be pushed around lightly, Sandy. I hope you know what you're doing." Then turning to look at Jim she added, "I hope you both know what you're doing."

The sound of Simon's deep voice penetrated the intimate circle of friend's causing everyone but Jim to draw their gazes back to the towering black man. "Yes, sir. I understand. Good day." Simon hung up the phone. He pinched the bridge of his nose trying to find a way to explain to the group of people behind him the news he'd just been informed of. His heart ached for one individual in particular who would be the most affected by what he was about to say. Behind the expectant gazes he could see Ellison already checking his holstered weapon and cuffs. He felt a sudden pang of sympathy for Sandburg's lost privacy. He made a mental note to talk to Jim about working harder to tune out of people's calls. "That was the Mayor, people. There was a break in at the University. The research lab where they keep CDC pathogens was broken into and a vile containing one of these highly infectious diseases was stolen. Normally the FBI would be the only ones involved in this case but as our thief was getting away one of the witnesses in the vicinity was abducted too. They believe he was taken as a result of identifying the guy since he doesn't seem to have any other connection to the item stolen. The FBI don't think the guy is going to waste energy keeping his eyewitness alive and since they have their hands full trying to get a handle on the media and preventing mass hysteria we've been assigned with helping to find the abductee and offering any help to apprehend this guy ASAP." Simon took a deep breath steeling him for what was surely to come. At mention of a member of his academic community being taken the captain had seen Sandburg tense with fear and anticipation. He could tell the kid could barely restrain himself from interrupting.

"Sir, do they know who was taken?" Blair barely noticed Jim's hand settle on his shoulder in support. A horrible premonition of who had been abducted settled deep in the pit of his stomach. "Simon?"

"Maybe you should take a seat, Sandburg." Simon nodded his head at Ellison silently communicating his order to put the kid under close supervision from this point onward.

"Come on, Chief. Sit down." All the anger Jim had been feeling earlier was pushed to the back burner, his concern over his partner and Guide taking precedence as he slipped into Blessed Protector mode. The hand he had placed on the kid's smaller shoulder slid down to gently grasp him at the elbow trying to guide him back into his swivel chair.

Blair could feel the eyes of everyone settle on him. Fear and anxiety made him balk at the attention. He jerked his arm out of his friend's grip and stood his ground. "Don't patronize me, Simon! Just tell me who- God! Don't bother...its Eli? Isn't it? It's Professor Stoddard, right?!" He saw the big head with the caring soft brown eyes nod sadly. Blair whirled around to look at Jim an irrational sense of accusation written all over his features. He needed to get his breathing under control. He couldn't pass out again. He wouldn't! He would need to be strong to back Jim up at the crime scene so his Sentinel would have the best chance at getting his mentor back alive and in one piece. "Jim?"

Ellison could read his young partner so easily. At this moment the kid's eyes screamed for him to make the fear and pain he was experiencing better. To fix this as only his blessed protector could. He tried to reach out to the young man again; his sensitive hearing picking up on the frantically beating heart. If Blair didn't calm down soon the police observer would be taking another nap on the police station floor.

Suddenly Ellison felt immense relief over the fact that he hadn't allowed the young man to read Stoddard's file in its entirety yet. Things would have been so much worse for the young man to finally find the father he had always wanted only to have the man ripped away from him hours later. All without ever being given the chance to confront the man too. Jim pushed those thoughts aside. They had no reason to believe Stoddard was dead yet. He needed to stay positive for the sake of the kid at the very least. "Come on buddy, sit down before you fall down."

Blair staggered forward a step his whole body vibrating with barely suppressed emotion. He sank into the seat that was offered to him. His mind awhirl with fears and concerns all directed towards a man he had always respected like a loving uncle. "I just need a second to process this. Just give me a minute then we can head out."

Jim patted the shoulder beneath his hand understandingly.

Simon clapped his hands to get his detectives' attention. "Listen up! Rafe, H, I want you two to head over to the University. Start your investigation there. Connor you are with me. 'We' are going to head over to Stoddard's house to see what we can find there. Everyone else start making inquiries at the airports and around the campus. I want progress reports every hour folks. Let's move out!" It was a sign of his police consultant's mental and emotional state of mind that he never noticed a lack of assignment for Jim and himself.

Jim left Blair's side as the rest of the bullpen's occupants all made their way out to accomplish each of their own tasks. He followed Simon into his office as the big man grabbed his back-up weapon and coat. "Tell me I'm not the only one who thinks this is Cooper, Sir."

"I agree with you, Jim. But without giving the FBI a whole heap load of information that would leave you in an unfavorable position this is how it's all going to be handled. We start this investigation from scratch no preconceived ideas or leads."

"I can't help but notice you didn't give Sandburg and I an assignment." Jim glanced back through the blinds of his Captain's office to check on his partner.

Simon followed his gaze. "I don't want you in on this man hunt, Jim. For once let us catch the bad guy, while you sit on the sidelines. Besides I don't have to remind you do I that if we're right and this is Cooper we know who he'll be coming after next?"

"That was my thought too, sir." Ellison rubbed thoughtfully at the back of his neck, "Looks like he finally made his move. If it is him why the theft at the research lab?"

Simon looked back over at his best detective with a look of incredulity. "Sandburg is right, you aren't firing on all cylinders right now. The man's been on the run for a month now, Jim. That's got to cost a lot." He pulled out a large cigar from the case in his pocket and sniffed at it appreciatively. "This is right up his line of expertise. I can't imagine it'd be too difficult for him to find a buyer for the stuff. It wouldn't even necessarily be of the criminal variety. These things are difficult to acquire legally, any number of private labs would probably pay a hefty price to get a hold of something like this."

"Interpol did put a freeze on his accounts and they've been watching his family's money to try to find him. So this might be his only means of coming into some large sums of money to hold him over for quite some time."

Simon nodded, "All that aside. My biggest concern right now is if he uses Eli to get to Sandburg."

"Sir?"

Banks used his cigar to point to the young man. "Come on Jim! I can't think of a better way to pull that kid from your side. God knows he wouldn't leave of his own right...not enough sense that one. Now if it could mean saving the life of someone he cares for...well..." He let the rest of his statement peter off as the enormity of its implications sank into the man standing beside him.

The only sign Jim gave of how his friend's words had reached him was the twitching of his jaw muscles as he clenched his teeth.

"Keep the kid safe. As far as the Mayor knows you've been on vacation since this morning. You never did take your allocated time off after the fire at Hargrove. I want you to make Sandburg disappear for a while. Let us do our job here and you do your job. I can't have the kid in on this case anyhow with how close he is to Eli. And if I can't have him around then that means I can't risk having you around either."

Ellison bristled at what the man was implying but nodded his head anyways in compliance. "Permission to sign out one of the department's SUV's, Sir."

"Sounds like a good idea."

Jim turned to leave the office and head back out to where Megan had been trying to distract Sandburg while she waited on the captain.

"Ellison." Simon saw Jim freeze in the doorway. "I am not dismissing the observations Rafe and Brown made. You have one hell of a temper when provoked especially where the kid is concerned. I don't care if it was his fault or a Sentinel thing. You hurt that young man out there again and I will pull his observers credentials faster than the kid can rattle of one of his inane lectures. Do I make myself clear? Get yourself under control, Jim." With his piece said Simon dismissed the detective.


	11. Chapter 11

Blair felt odd as he watched Megan's mouth moving. He attempted a weak smile to reassure her that he appreciated her concern. It was obvious that she was talking to him but it sounded like she was talking from under water. He wondered if this was what it was like for Jim when he had hearing dialed down real low. Now he had the feeling Jim probably did this all the time with him. How else could the man remain so calm and cool while he was trying to lecture Jim on one aspect or another of his Sentinel senses? It certainly would explain the slightly smug expression on Jim's face while he was watching him talk, basically humoring him. First chance he got he would have to call Jim out on it. He waved the female Inspector a half-hearted goodbye watching her walk out his line of sight. Her form was quickly replaced with the imposing bulk of his best friend.

The wool he had successfully pulled over Megan's eyes sadly didn't seem to work with Jim. He watched vacantly as his friend extended his large hand to tap his cheek a couple times, forcing him to deal with the here and now.

"You with me now, kiddo?"

Blair shook his head. The fog lifted and he could once again hear and think clearly. 'Geez, I'm a basket case.' The bullpen was now empty except for them. "Where did everyone go?"

"How about I tell you on the way, Chief."

Blair let himself be led out of the bullpen and over to the elevators which would take them to the garage. He followed Jim onto the lift where he became aware of the absent weight on his shoulder. He threw himself at the doors just as they began to slide closed. "Shoot! I left my pack behind with all of my stuff, Jim. My coat too it seems. Just wait a minute while I get them."

"Actually, that'll give me some time to get some things done before we leave. Go ahead and gather your stuff. I'll meet you down in the garage in five. And Chief -" Jim paused so that his next words carried a bit more weight than the rest, "I'll be listening out for you."

Blair felt the warmth and concern Jim was trying to convey in his words. He smiled back at his friend. "Thanks man." Smacking the doors once he spun around and headed back down the hall to the bullpen and his belongings. A moment later he heard the elevator doors close behind him.

His stuff was right where he remembered leaving it, at Jim's desk. He picked up his pack, glancing out at the far windows and the darkening skies they framed. He decided to set the pack down atop Jim's desk so he could first put on his jacket. He zipped the large coat up all the way to his neck in an effort to conserve heat and then slung his pack over his shoulders. He took a couple of minutes to close up shop at the detective's desk: shutting down Jim's computer, signing Ellison's name to a couple of files he had promised to finish for his friend, and then neatly straightening the stacks of files and papers on his desk that had conveniently appeared after they'd arrived at the station. He smiled in satisfaction once he felt the appearance of his best friend's work area was clean and orderly enough. Small things like this went far in helping officers to focus their time on the aspects of the job that really required the most attention. For instance hunting down psychos and rescuing their victims. 'Stop dwelling on it, Blair. Stay focused. Help Jim, help Eli.'

Knowing that his sentinel was listening in from wherever he was in the building Blair spoke aloud. "Okay man. I'm all set up here. I'm gonna head down now. See you in-" he was interrupted by his cell phone going off. "Give me a second Jim. I'm getting a call."

Sandburg fished his cell out of his jean's pocket, frowning at the blocked number displayed on the small LCD screen. He flipped the phone open answering the unknown call as he was pushing through the double doors of the bullpen. "This is Blair Sandburg-"

"Hello again, Mr. Sandburg." A cool British accent spoke through the small speaker making Blair freeze in his tracks. "If you wish to enjoy the company of our mutual friend again I suggest you go somewhere we can converse in private."

Mind and heart racing the young Anthropologist sprinted down the hall to the restrooms. He plowed through the men's door, slamming it shut behind him and locking it. He didn't have much time. If Jim had kept his word and was listening in on him he knew the man would be charging after him any second. Even if he hadn't eavesdropped in on the conversation his heart rate alone would've told his roommate that something was wrong. He let his backpack slide to the floor and pushed away from the secured door, then ran into each stall flushing the toilets, doing the same for the urinals. He spun around and triggered the motion sensitive hand-dryers then twisted each sink faucet on just for added measure. The small restroom roared with the deafening sounds of water and air blowing. "It's safe."

"It relieves me to hear you take this so seriously."

"Let me talk to Eli." Sandburg knew he had to cut to the chase. He wholly expected Jim to come and break down the door any second now. He glanced at the door to the restroom nervously, backing away from it slowly. There was no denying what he was doing now would be construed a betrayal of Jim's trust. 'Sorry man.' His body hit the furthest stall door and he cloistered himself inside it, locking the flimsy door to add to the obstacles between him and the Sentinel if the need should arise.

"My word that he remains unharmed is sufficient, Blair. Besides you are in no position to be dictating to me any terms. You alone will meet me at the MLK Grey Hound Terminal Station in Tacoma two days from now at precisely 6am. Need I bother adding what will result if you were to share our little conversation? Neither of us wants to go into the consequences. Oh, and if you should choose to miss this appointment-"

"I won't."

*BANG BANG BANG*

["Sandburg!"]

*BANG BANG BANG*

"Nevertheless, if for some reason you were to miss our little rendezvous. Rest assure the opportunity will present itself again with new players. And again and again and again until you make yourself available to me. " Blair shifted around the toilet seat until his back was plastered against a solid masonry wall. He slowly slid down the wall listening to the ultimatum with growing dread.

["Unlock the door, Sandburg!"]

*BANG BANG BANG*

He barely registered his best friend's insistent pounding at the door as the obsessed Sentinel's next words over the phone drove a jagged piece of ice straight through his heart. "Perhaps next time I will avail myself of your mother's lovely company. Such a splendid lady. I would truly be saddened by the loss of Naomi's brilliant smile. Have we reached an understanding?"

The world spun and in a breathless voice Blair hissed, "I said I'll be there."

["I'm breaking down this door Sandburg!"]

*CRASH*

"Marvelous! Until then my young Guide. Until then." Then the line went dead and Cooper hung up.

The sound of a large body colliding with the restroom's locked metal door snapped Blair back into action. His cell phone was snapped shut and shoved back in his pocket. He quickly took several deep breaths trying to calm his furiously beating heart, and then clambered out of the narrow stall. He rushed to shut off the running water at the sinks. The flushing toilets were quieting down and the hand-dryers had already shut off. He took a deep breath walking up to the locked door. It buckled under Jim's weight as he tried again unsuccessfully to knock it down. With a quick flick of his wrist the latch was turned and he calmly pulled the door open.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~WARNING~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

THIS IS A FAIR WARNING FOR THE UPCOMING CHAPTER THAT I WILL BE POSTING. IT IS THE REASON THIS STORY IS RATED FOR TEENS. THE VIOLENCE IN THE NEXT CHAPTER IS A BIT INTENSE SO CONSIDER YOURSELVES WARNED PEOPLE. OTHERWISE ENJOY!


	12. Chapter 12

Jim was grateful of Blair's delay since it gave him the time to stop off at the automotive admin desk and sign out the unmarked car he'd requested earlier from Simon. He pocketed the keys to their replacement wheels then continued down to the garage. The entire time he kept an ear on his guide several floors above. 'What was the saying? Old habits die hard,' or where his guide was concerned never at all.

A few weeks ago Jim had set into motion his plans to travel with Sandburg back to Peru. His hope was to seek out the Chopec and gain their assistance with the bonding ritual needed between Sentinel and Guide. Since his plans had no concrete timetable, Jim had seen fit to store the travel gear he'd secretly packed away in the truck ready for instant use when the need finally arose. Now with Simon's earlier admonition ringing in his ears he was glad he'd thought ahead.

Jim pulled the army duffle and two separate backpacks full of camping gear out of his truck and transferred them to the shiny new white SUV he'd checked out. With Cooper rearing his ugly head again Jim had no intentions of going back to the loft with Sandburg. He hoped to throw off any tail he and his roommate might have by swapping rides. He threw the packs across the back seat and slammed the doors shut.

'All right, Chief. I'm set. Now where are you?' Closing his eyes and cocking his head to the side Jim focused on the sound of his partner's heartbeat. It had been steadily thrumming on the edge of his awareness. He smiled when he picked up on the soothing voice of his guide talking to him in his absence.

["...up here. I'm gonna head down now. See you in-"]

Jim winced as the sound of Sandburg's cell phone shrieked in his ears.

["Give me a second, Jim. I'm getting a call."]

Ellison visibly relaxed when the kid answered the phone silencing the shrill noise.

["This is Blair Sandburg-"]

Jim couldn't identify the caller on the other end of the line as he'd focused his attention on the young man. However, when Sandburg's heart rate shot through the roof a moment later it was more than enough to make him break into a run, straight for the closest stairwell that would lead him to his partner the quickest. As he ran he dialed his hearing up trying to gain some insight as to what was causing Blair such distress. He heard a voice close to Sandburg's.

["If you wish to enjoy the company of our mutual friend anytime in the foreseeable future I suggest you go somewhere we can converse in private."]

The Sentinel worried that his Guide's heart might explode from his chest. Jim charged up the stairs three steps at a time making record speed past multiple floors in a race to reach the police observer. He could hear Sandburg breathing heavily and the sounds of running feet. He willed his own feet to move faster. 'Stupid, stupid! Simon warned me Blair would be next. But do I take it to heart? No, instead I let the kid go traipsing around the station alone.'

The sound of rushing and roiling water filled his ears. It was suddenly harder to focus on the beat of his Guide's heart. 'What in the world?!' Jim strained his hearing trying to get an idea of what was going on around the kid. The noise of the rushing water became more amplified and soon he lost the tab he had on Sandburg's location all together. That's when what Blair was doing hit him. The kid was using the sounds of the flushing toilets as natural white noise generators. The insight renewed his sense of urgency. Fear and anger-induced adrenaline gave him an added burst of energy that propelled him up the last flight of stairs to the mostly deserted floor of Major Crimes. He stormed out of the stairwell and straight in the direction of where he had last heard his Guide's heartbeat.

The few officers strolling the hall seemed to instinctively know avoidance was key to their survival the instant they spotted Ellison. With a barely restrained growl they were asked for the kid's whereabouts. And all of them hastily pointed in the direction of the men's restroom. One of the braver uniforms ventured to inform the seething detective, "He hasn't come out yet, if that's what you're wondering."

Sane logical James Ellison checked out the moment he reached the locked men's room door. A pissed off territorial Sentinel with the detective's face took his place as he pounded on the door with his fist.

*BANG BANG BANG*

"Sandburg!"

*BANG BANG BANG*

"Unlock the door, Sandburg!" The rushing water in the toilets was beginning to subside and Ellison could hear fragments of barely intelligible speech. He growled in frustration and let loose on the door again, venting his anger.

*BANG BANG BANG*

Jim froze, for a second he could make out a voice. ["... reached ... understanding?"] It was someone with a British accent. He waited with bated breath for Sandburg's response, leaning heavily against the door trying to hear more clearly past the running water in the sinks. When he heard his Guide's angered response he decided he'd had enough. Whoever was in there with his partner was threatening the young man. The door was coming down.

"I'm breaking down this door, Sandburg!" The Sentinel backed up several paces then rushed the door. The impact reverberated throughout the station drawing the attention of a few officers who'd shut themselves up in the break room. The noise from the hand dryers died and it became easier for the Sentinel to hear into the room beyond. He paused to catch his breath and tried to force his hearing to filter out the rushing water of the toilets as their bowls refilled. The next time the voice spoke Jim's senses were fully extended ready to catalogue every nuance of the heavily accented voice.

["Marvelous! Until then my young Guide-] 'Didn't Blair say Cooper was from the London?' The Sentinel rammed into the door once more flashing his teeth in a predatory snarl as he felt the metal frame buckle under the stress. He heard Sandburg start moving around. Squeaking metal signaled the faucets being shut off and with the absence of their noise his ears were flooded with the thundering beat of his Guide's heart and the sound of the man's deep breaths. Blair was trying to calm his fear response. He tried to listen for the heartbeat of the other person in the restroom but couldn't seem to find any. 'Oh you'd better get used to being scared kiddo. Cause when I get through with you...' his train of thought was derailed when he heard footsteps approaching the door.

Using every last ounce of his imposing form Jim made sure he blocked the entire frame of the restroom door. Feet spread wide and firmly planted he had every intention of preventing his wayward guide from escaping a well deserved chewing out. 'Stay in control. Stay in control! Sure, he used his knowledge of Sentinels against me and all to conspire with the enemy...but maybe, just maybe he had a good reason.'

James Ellison barely registered the turning of the bolt and opening of the door. The moment the door was open even a fraction the familiar hated scent of Andrew Cooper assaulted his heightened olfactory senses. The strongest hints of his rival's presence all concentrating around the young man. 'Forget it...he's dead,' He thought as he pushed his way into the small room, thrusting its occupant back inside several steps. "Where is he?!"

"Hey man-" Blair stumbled backward as Jim rushed past him sniffing the air like a bloodhound. He watched him head straight to the stall where he'd been hidden. He swiped at his sweating brow, feeling the cool metal of Naomi's gift rub against his warm skin. He was anxious enough without having to deal with Jim in primal mode. His friend must've heard the phone call despite his attempts to mask it. 'I'm so boned right now it isn't even funny...' He jumped back when Jim rounded on him with an angry questioning glare directed his way.

"Cooper! I asked: Where is he? I can smell him."

Blair looked around in confusion shaking his head no. "In here? There was never anyone in here with me, Jim." It became evident just how highly disturbed Jim was when the man looked his way and he was given a glimpse of Jim's fully dilated eyes. Concern blossomed in Blair's chest with the thought that maybe Jim had been exposed to something and was subsequently having an adverse reaction. "Are you positive its Cooper you're smelling and not something similar?"

"I know what I'm smelling, Sandburg!"

"Sorry, sorry. I don't doubt it. Calm down. Okay look, you know I have the utmost faith in your abilities, so he must've been here at some other time because he wasn't in here with me. We could go down to dispatch, watch the security surveillance-" Before he knew what hit him, Jim was in his face.

"This isn't an old scent, Sandburg, this is fresh. He had to be in here with you!"

Sandburg grabbed hold of both of Jim's upper arms trying to still the frenzied man. "I hear you. But I'm telling you you're wrong. When I ran in here I was alone. I haven't been near him since that morning weeks ago, Jim. Maybe there's something else going on here with your senses. Take a minute to breathe and calm-"

Faster than Jim thought possible his hand snaked out to grab a fist-hold of hair at the nape of his Guide's neck. "Don't! Don't talk! Not even a single word to me right now." He ignored the startled pain-filled gasp his actions elicited and dragged Blair backward until he had the young man pinned to the tile wall. "Why should I believe you after the suicidal stunt you just pulled?! You lock yourself away in here and do everything in your power to keep me from hearing what's happening!"

"Its not what you think," Blair tried to reassure.

"I can even smell him on you. It wasn't there when we came to the station but now it is. How do you explain that?" Jim wanted to believe the kid so badly but the Sentinel was being blinded by jealousy.

"I don't know, Jim, but it couldn't have been Andrew in here with me because," he faltered aware of Cooper's threat, weighing it against the need to convince his irate partner, "because he's the one I was on the phone with!" The words tumbled from nervous lips in a rushed mess. Fear gripped Blair's heart with the thought that maybe Cooper 'was' nearby and had heard him reveal even that small amount of information to the detective. He hated thinking Eli might suffer because of his own inability to keep his mouth shut.

Ellison was having a hard time collecting himself in spite of the truth he could hear in Blair's words. There'd be no sense in calling the young man if Cooper had been in the same room as him. But then where did Cooper's scent come from if Blair hadn't come in contact with the man? He hadn't smelled it in the precinct until Blair opened the door. The scent was definitely in the restroom and it's strongest on the young man himself. And there was no denying the automatic response his body was having to Cooper's scent. "Why hide the call?! What the hell possessed you to do that?! Do you know how stupid that was?"

Committing himself to not divulging any more information Sandburg tried to push the detective away. "Back off! I don't have to-" He was jerked away from the wall and roughly slammed back against it. His vision exploded in a burst of blinding white stars as his head connected with the hard porcelain tiles on the wall.

"Don't play games with me here, Sandburg." The Sentinel felt the head in his grasp try to twist away so he tightened his grip in response. "You say he was never in here with you; you were just on the phone with him? Fine, I'll buy that for now, then all you need to explain to me is what he said and why you felt the need to deceive me." An obstinate pain filled glare was the only forthcoming response. Jim shook his head in stunned disbelief. "You have no sense of self-preservation." As his anger focused, a dangerous misleading calm settled over him. "Tell me what he said to you." Jim's voice was firm and the tone left no room for mistaking the warning for what it was.

"Let me go, Jim. I have the right to privacy just like any-" Jim's cry of outrage filled the small facilities with its volume and effectively shut Blair up. Sandburg watched the man pinning him to the cold wall behind him shake with the effort to control his rage. He was playing with explosives, especially if his roommate was indeed smelling the scent of the rival Sentinel. But what choice did he have? Cooper certainly hadn't left him any. Jim's eyes conveyed a calculated hostility towards him that caused him to wonder just how far the detective was willing to go to extract the information he wanted. 'Don't make me, Jim. He told me not to tell, and I may have already said too much. Please, I can't let him hurt Eli...' He tried to convey with his eyes his desperation. But his blessed protector must've rightly viewed him as a risk to himself because Jim was undeterred.

"What was it he said?"

"Nothing I hung up on him!" He prayed Jim wouldn't be able to tell the lie from the truth right now with his heart thundering away as frantically as it was.

Ellison reached his hand down into the young man's jean pocket pulling out the cell phone, and glaring at him flicked the device open with his thumb. He held it up to his roommate's face and without looking away from the denim blue eyes pulled up the recent calls screen. He examined the small screen that displayed a call time of several minutes. He watched Sandburg swallow nervously as the evidence of his lie was held up visibly for all to see. "Why don't you run that by me again. Or should I just hit redial? Ask the caller myself? Would you like me to do that?!" He watched Blair's eyes widen in alarm and try to shake his head an emphatic no. He let the phone clatter noisily to the floor. "Am I finally getting through to that brain of yours, Sandburg? Is this what it takes?" He roughly shook the hand fisted at the back of the curly head. "If you think for a second I'm going to be played a fool by any of your misguided attempts at martyrdom…"

A shaky hand was placed against the Sentinel's heaving chest feeling the thundering muscle beating against a rapidly expanding and contracting rib cage. "You don't understand." The statement was spoken softly in the hopes of reaching the more logical side of his best friend.

"I already know all your reasons." With deceptive care Jim's other hand clutched the wrist held against his chest and removed it. He was so far gone he didn't notice the way his hand burned where it came in contact with the bracelet encircling the Guide's wrist. "If you think for one second I won't choose your life over Stoddard's or a million others like him then you aren't getting it, Chief." He took a deep breath counting to ten as Blair had often admonished him to do. Both his hands shifted to clutch the smaller shoulders in a vice like grip, "Tell me what he said to you."

Sandburg could hear the strain in his friend's pleading voice. His heart ached for what he was doing to his blessed protector. But he truly believed he couldn't cling to this friendship if it would cost countless innocent lives. He owed it to Eli, to his mother, to everyone to accept this fate. His resolve hardening, Blair stood tall in the face of his friend's fury. "I can't."

"You what? You can't- you just- I-ARGH!" The horrible realization of how each and every injury the young man had sustained or would sustain, would in some way be as a direct result of the graduate student's innate desire to help others at all cost to himself, stole the last vestige of self control from Jim. 'Its not fair...' he mourned, because the heart of the problem was the very essence that made Blair the great friend he'd come to rely on day in and day out and there wasn't a thing Jim could do to control or change that.

Even now Sandburg was patting him on the arm trying to get Jim to take deep cleansing breaths. Saying that everything would be okay and they'd find a way through this and that he was sorry for deceiving him. Even in the arms of a friend who'd assaulted him he was still throwing caution to the wind in an attempt to put the wellbeing of others before his own.

Out of blind desperation to drive home his point Jim latched onto the front of the kid's clothes with both of his fists and lifted him off the floor. He felt the rage brought on by Cooper's perceived presence fuel his frustration toward his best friend. Every fear and worry Ellison had ever suppressed over losing the anthropologist came bursting to the fore in his mind. He was flooded with images of close calls, breath stealing could-have-beens, and nightmarish what-ifs. In his stressed state he couldn't see the look of panic in Sandburg's eyes as he was held several inches off the floor, his feet dangling uselessly. Neither did he register the look of hurt disbelief on Blair's face as Jim slammed him into the wall in time with the words he shouted at his face.

"I..."

"No, stop..."

SLAM

"Will NOT..."

"...oh god..."

SLAM

"Lose You..."

"JIM! PLEASE!"

SLAM

"AGAIN!"

The door to the left of Ellison opened a fraction to allow either a very brave or quite a stupid officer to peek his head inside the men's restroom. The Sentinel whipped his head around to glare the man down. What the officer saw made him gulp nervously. He faltered, unsure of what to do since Jim was the Superior. Jim watched as the officer's instincts to protect warred with the unwritten rules of the brotherhood they belonged to. It was all the hesitancy he needed to see. "Get OUT!" he commanded, and watched as the young officer ducked back out into the hall.

The distraction gave Jim enough time to rein in some of the seething emotions that had undermined his tenuous hold on self-control. When he turned back around to face his Guide he groaned with the sudden clarity of what he'd just done. The blessed protector regained a foothold in his psyche and with the greatest care he gently lowered the trembling and dazed young man to his feet. "Oh no you don't." He was quick to catch Sandburg under the arms as the kid's knees buckled, his weakened body trying to crumple to the floor. "Jesus. I'm sorry, Chief. " An odd sort of numbness started to wrap itself around the Sentinel leaving him feeling detached and adding an unreal sense of distortion to how he perceived his surroundings.

Blair's stomach rolled, "-im? I don't feel t'good." His throbbing head lolled to one side coming to rest against Jim's shoulder. At that moment the anthropologist couldn't care less that the one holding him up was also the one who'd just given him what he suspected was the mother-load of all concussions. He was just grateful the assault had stopped. He had the distinct feeling he was going to pass out soon. Things were becoming foggy and thinking was fast becoming a very painful exercise. An earnest voice in the back of his mind told him he needed to do something; that he was forgetting a very important matter that needed his attention. He was hard pressed to recall it. He felt a hand ghost over the back of his skull and flinched when it came near the tender spot that had repeatedly struck the wall.

Jim hitched the sagging body in his arms up to look into two dilated eyes. With a sense of shock he spoke, "I've given you a concussion."

Blair had to squint to make the distorted image of his friend come into focus. Jim looked on the verge of despair his forehead creased with worry but his eyes unfocused. He knew what that look meant. Jim only ever furrowed his brows that deeply when he was feeling inordinately guilty. Blair couldn't seem to remember why Jim should be feeling bad. That had to be a bad thing. He had the vague impression he should be worried by his sudden forgetfulness. While Blair couldn't understand why Jim was so forlorn, the instinctive need for the Guide to comfort the Sentinel compelled him to erase the concerned look on his friend's face. "s'okay..."

The memory of what Simon promised if he lost control around the kid again came floating back to Jim's mind. He pulled the disoriented young man into a tight embrace. "I'm gonna lose you. They'll take you away from me after this," he whispered sounding as lost as he felt.

Blair wondered whether the detective realized that his statement had made him sound like he was some broken toy to mourn over. Lifting a shaky hand up to pat the five o'clock shadow, he snorted when his hand missed its mark and smacked Jim square on the nose. "...m'not goin anywhere bi'guy." With the last ounce of his energy he managed to hug his friend. He felt the strong arms wrapped around him tighten and a firm voice whisper in his ear, 'Mine,' and then the darkness engulfed him as the world around him slipped away.

Jim registered the heart beating against his body slow down to a steady peaceful rhythm. A large part of him was screaming that he needed to get the kid to a hospital, that there was still the possibility that he'd lose it again and thus needed to get far away from the kid but his body was drained of all energy.

"How do I fix this?" His hand reached out to adjust the head resting against him when a new smell assaulted his nose. 'Blood?' He pulled his hand away from Sandburg's head and sucked in a sharp breath at the sight of the blood that coated his fingertips. 'Blood...' He carefully lowered his unconscious friend to the cool tile floor and stepped back his body beginning to shake uncontrollably. 'Blair's Blood...' The coppery tang overwhelmed all other smells making Jim cough trying to breath. He took several more steps backward until he felt the cool porcelain of the sink against the small of his back. 'I spilled his blood. I hurt Blair. I hurt my best friend, my brother, my roommate, my partner, my guide...'

Throughout their friendship no matter the ups and downs, the trials and tribulations, the horrors they had been forced to endure Jim had always fallen back on one truth which he clung to like a lifeline: He could never intentionally hurt Blair. Sure he may have brought the kid into situations that placed him in danger and he was notorious for inflicting emotional blows with the power of his words or actions but he'd never, would never and could never on purpose inflict physical harm to his dearest friend. Now he was faced with the evidence of the crime he had always thought himself incapable of. "Oh god!" Jim spun around gripping the sides of the sink as he was forced to empty the contents of his stomach into the basin. His stomach cramped again and again until all that he was able to manage were gut wrenching dry heaves. He wiped his face against the sleeve of his jacket and looked up into his reflection in the mirror.

Staring back from the mirror, the Sentinel saw not the face he expected to see but rather the image of his Jaguar spirit guide looking across at his with green eyes full of accusation. The animal screamed at him, barring its large white canines. Enraged Jim drew his fist back and drove it into the mirror's reflection. The glass exploded into hundreds of shards that rained down around him. He pulled his bloodied fist back staring at his blood as it pooled from the various cuts that had been inflicted. There should have been pain, but he felt none. He turned away from the sink and the smell of his vomit. He allowed his knees to buckle and his body to slide down the wall beside him till he was huddled a few feet away from Blair. Everything was falling apart. He looked at his hand; his own blood was swirling and mingling with Blair's. If he focused hard enough he could see the differences in their blood cells and even platelets...


	13. Chapter 13

When Peterson a relatively new officer fresh out of the academy came bursting into Cpt. Joel Taggart's office telling him that Detective Ellison was attacking Blair, Joel was ready to laugh the whole thing off as a joke. It took him a second to really see the anxiety on the ginger's face as genuine and not contrived. The moment he understood the man to be telling him the truth he surged from his seat behind his desk sending the chair careening into a filing cabinet behind him with a loud crash. "You sure it was Ellison?" He had to ask again the disbelief in his voice easy to hear.

"There's no mistaking who it is, Sir. I would have gone to Cpt. Banks but he along with the rest of major crimes is out assisting the FBI. I figured you might know how to handle the situation."

"Have you told anyone else about this?" Joel rushed after Peterson allowing the young man to lead him to where he claimed to have witnessed the unbelievable.

"There are a few guys on the floor who could hear Ellison shouting from the bathroom, but nobody seemed inclined to go in after him. We all figured they were just venting at each other. But then we heard some loud crashing sounds coming out from there and well-I like Sandburg, sir. He's been real decent to me ever since I transferred over from missing persons. I just had to check on him. I never would've believed it unless I'd seen it with my own eyes. Ellison had this crazed look in his eyes. He had Blair pinned up against the wall a foot off the floor. I froze; I didn't know what to do. He yelled at me to get out and I ran and got you, Sir."

Joel was panting heavily by the time he'd exited the stairwell onto the fifth floor, opting to take the stairs rather than waste time waiting for the elevator. He understood Peterson's anxious debriefing while they hotfooted it to the scene of the incident as his way of coping with the helplessness the junior officer felt. He only wished he could've made out more of what the man was saying to him over the loud gasping sounds of his respiration. But he'd got the gist and he'd never hoped so much for a fellow officer to be wrong. He threw his hand up to halt the young man from following him into the restroom. "Give -GASP- me -GASP- a moment." The overweight man took a second to catch his breath, "I'll call you in when it's clear."

"I understand, sir."

Taking another deep breath, Joel attempted to calm the irrational sense of impending doom he felt rising like bile at the back of his throat. 'You can do this. There's still the possibility the man is wrong. Just go through the door already.' His hand settled on the cool metal door handle. 'One, two, three-' the door was pushed open and the sight that greeted him was a fist to his gut. When he regained his breath he shouted back for Peterson behind him to get the paramedics. "Tell them to get here quick!"

Joel Taggart's eyes seemed riveted to the bright red blood smeared against the stark white tiles of the restroom walls. He'd seen much worse in his line of work but the fact that he knew fondly the men the blood belonged to seemed to make the small quantity painted on the walls seem horrific. One of the vanity mirrors above a sink was shattered and a bloody print the size of a fist adorned the wall where it once hung. The air reeked of vomit and when he glanced inside one of the sinks he located the source of the odor. "Good god..." he forced his eyes away to look at the two figures on the floor in the corner of the room.

Joel used the backpack at his feet to prop open the door. Behind him he could hear a small crowd of policemen gathering to catch sight of what had taken place. "I'll suspend any officer who comes in here without being called in. Is that understood?" He received a round of nods and feeling confident that he wouldn't be unduly disturbed moved deeper into the restroom.

James Ellison had been a friend of Taggart's for quite a while so seeing the man the way he looked now was difficult. The normally proud and strong man was squatting an arm's length away from Blair's unconscious body. He had a vacant stare on his face as he rocked back and forth silently cradling a bloodied arm to his chest. There were shards of glass littering the restroom floor; some of the pieces were stained red. "One of you out there needs to call Captain Banks!" He shouted over his shoulder. He heard an answering scurry of feet and was able to breathe easier knowing the man who dealt day in and day out with the Sandburg/Ellison team would be here soon. While worry and concern over the Detective made him want to go to Jim first, duty and no small amount of friendship demanded that Joel first see to the younger man lying still as death on the hard floor.

The moment he stepped toward the police observer the detective started to show signs of stirring. "Jim?" There didn't seem to be any recognition in his eyes. To Joel he still had a vacant stare but it was clear the man was aware if anyone came near Sandburg. The bomb squad Captain decided to rethink how he needed to handle the situation. He sent a silent prayer up that the student would be all right with the delay and headed to Ellison instead. "Jim? What's going on? You and the kid are hurt Jim... I've sent for some help." He slowly walked up to Jim, calmly and carefully laying a hand on the man's shoulder. He received no response from the man. He smacked Jim's cool cheek several times trying to coax him to snap out of the fugue state he seemed caught up in. Joel didn't like the shallow breaths his friend was taking or the blue tint to his lips. He looked over his shoulder wishing the kid were awake to snap his partner out of it. 'Blair always seems to know what to do.' He started to rub Jim's shoulders through the thick jacket aiding in circulation. When that didn't get him the desired reaction he tried smacking him on the face a little harder this time. "Come on, Jim, snap out of this!" Ellison's 'lights are on but aint nobody home' look remained fixed on his face. "Grrr…think! What would Sandburg do?"

On several occasions when the detective had behaved oddly this way Taggart witnessed Sandburg speak in a very soothing and disarming tone of voice to the big man. When that wouldn't work and Blair thought no one was watching he'd even seen him take something strong smelling and wave it under the detectives nose to bring him around. Taking in the state of shock Jim seemed to be in Joel decided now would be a good time to employ some of the those methods. He padded his pockets in search of anything he might have and found a peppermint in its wrapper. He pulled the candy out and all but shoved it under Jim's nose. He threw the candy down in disgust when it didn't do the trick. He watched the small round mint roll on the floor before settling next to the kid's head. A ridiculous thought popped into his mind and though he felt crazy for trying it he decided they had nothing to lose. He grabbed Jim's uninjured hand and extended it so that it reached the kid's head. He started stroking Jim's hand over Sandburg's hair. "Sandburg is right here Jim and he's alive, see. Now why don't you snap out of this and help your partner." Joel watched as the contact seemed to reach through to the man just a little, his entire body shuddered as he drew in a deep breath of air. "Jim? Come on, Ellison, that's it breath deep. Welcome back…Now I need you to tell me what happened so we can get you guys some help."

Ellison had a moment of numb panic when he couldn't see anything after coming out of his zone. He blinked his gritty dry eyes rapidly. They started to tear and soon the relief of salty wetness washing over them made sight once again possible. Jim lifted his hands to rub the weariness away but stopped as the appendages came close to his nose. There was no mistaking the coppery tang that filled his nostrils. 'Blair's blood?' Holding his hands palms up he could see drying blood on them. He blinked owlishly trying to wrap his head around why he had Blair's blood on his hands. Then other sensations began to make themselves known demanding his attention. He hissed as the pain from the cuts on his hand finally registered in his dazed state.

Joel realized that while Jim was at least coming out of shock he was far from ready to communicate through the pain he was acutely aware of now. He tried once more to reach the dazed detective, "Jim, I need you to stay still while I check on Blair. Can you do that for me man?" A silent nod was the detective's answer. Finally Joel's felt things were safe enough to approach Sandburg. He left Jim's side and knelt beside the curly-haired grad student. There didn't seem to be any blood pooling around the kid, Joel took that as a good sign. He was hesitant to move the unconscious body. The kid was clearly breathing and thus alive much to his relief. He had been terrified at first, chalking up Jim's catatonic state to the kid having died. "What happened, Jim? Where's the blood coming from? Why is the kid out of it?" He watched as the normally sharp-minded detective frowned as if confused by his questions. "Blair? Come on kiddo, can you speak to me? Time to wake up." He lightly tapped at the observer's cheek.

Jim spoke in a hushed voice. "I don't remember much. Sandburg was locked in the restroom, I think and Cooper...that psycho..." Things were still fuzzy but he had the feeling the rival Sentinel had been the cause of whatever had taken place. Jim had a flash of throwing someone up against the restroom wall and before he could analyze it any further the memory slipped out of reach. "I think Cooper came after Blair again."

To Joel Taggart things made a whole lot more sense now that Jim mentioned Cooper's involvement. Peterson must've misunderstood what was going on somehow. Relief flooded through Taggart and he allowed some of the tension in his body to ebb away. "We need to get you two to a hospital."

When Jim saw the burly black bomb squad Captain brush a few errant strands of hair away from Blair's face he felt an irrational anger start to swell up in him. "Don't touch him."

Joel didn't miss the tone of warning in Ellison's voice. He stilled his hand mistakenly thinking that the detective was concerned about a neck or spine injury.

Ellison watched Joel breathe out a huff of air in clear frustration. He could tell the big man wanted to do more for his partner lying on the floor than Joel was able to. He opened his mouth to say something when two heads popped into view from the restroom's threshold. The sight of the two new faces in the enclosed space made his body go rigid.

"We were sent to offer some medical assistance. Everything all right, Captain Taggart?"

Joel looked up to the two paramedics seeking permission to enter. He held up his hand signaling them to wait a moment. He needed to let these people in here to check on Sandburg but he also acknowledged the fact that unsteady and disoriented as Jim was he needed to make sure the overly protective detective understood what was going on. "All right Jim, these paramedics are going to take care of you and Blair. Understand?" He deliberately placed himself in Jim's line of sight blocking the detective's view of the EMTs he was signaling to behind his back. "Why don't you let them have a look at your hand while you tell me what you remember happened." He could hear them behind him quietly make their way inside, one dropping to her knees in the glass littered restroom to check over Sandburg, and the other approaching Jim from the other side.

"I don't remember much honestly. Not yet at least. Think I may have lost some blood..." Jim was craning his neck trying to keep an eye on what was happening with his partner. He heard a loud moan come from Sandburg as the paramedic slipped a cervical collar around his neck. Jim attempted to spring forward to Blair's side but the fast movement and loss of blood pressure were his undoing and he crumpled to the floor like a sack of potatoes before either Joel or the paramedic could catch him.

It was at that unfortunate moment that Captain Simon Banks rushed into the restroom. "What happened?" The attention he demanded easily recognizable despite the paling his face showed at what he was seeing.

Inspector Megan Connor followed abruptly on his heels. She was unable to hide her startled gasp at the sight of her friends' battered bodies. "How did this happen?" she asked stepping aside as a stretcher was brought inside to load Ellison for transportation to Cascade General Hospital.

Joel moved away from the unconscious detective's side, patting the limp hand to reassure him that everything would be all right. "I wish I could tell you. Jim was in shock when I found him. Peterson came and got me saying something about a fight. And Jim couldn't offer much before he passed out from blood loss. What little I could get from Ellison leads me to believe Cooper may have got in here under the radar."

The Captain frowned at the notion, security measures had been beefed up since the incident with Kincaid. It was hard to believe a man as wanted as Cooper currently was could slip in undetected. He couldn't hid his suspicion as he asked, "Did Sandburg say what happened? That it was Cooper?"

"Blair was unconscious when I came in." Joel's eyes widened in understanding, "You don't think Jim had something to do with this?!"

"Usually I'd say no right off the bat, but things have been strained lately. I just wish we had more information." A large headache was beginning to form behind Simon's temples. He massaged beneath the frame of his glasses trying to stave off a migraine. He and the Inspector hadn't even gotten that far from the station before he'd been called back to headquarters. He watched as Jim was wheeled out and another stretcher was brought in to cart Sandburg off as well. He didn't relish the lash back this would have in his department. Most of his detectives were mad enough with him for not pushing the incident with Ellison and the kid's safety earlier.

"Its like I said, I don't really have much to go on, Simon. If Cooper was here, he got out before I saw him. Peterson said most of the officers up here didn't want to pry and kept themselves in the break room so I don't know if they can lend us much in the way of what they saw go down. " Joel watched as his friend pursed his lips in understanding.

Feeling as though her presence could be more useful elsewhere Megan approached Banks. "I can have a look at the surveillance, sir. Talk to Peterson, have him describe in detail what he saw and try to find out what happened." Megan saw Banks nod his head. She took off like a bullet to go track down the newbie officer who could hold the key to this afternoon's affairs.

Right before they wheeled his police consultant out Simon paused one of the EMTs, a petite brunette by the name of Jenny who was familiar with the dynamic duo under his charge. She had rode with the kid to the hospital before and would be riding with him again if the way she fawned over him were any indication. He smiled fondly, 'the kid sure knows how to win people over.' He bent over to speak clearly but privately with her, "Make it known he is under police protection. Have them note there are restrictions on all visitors besides myself." Dropping his voice he added, " I want Sandburg in a separate room from Ellison until I give word otherwise. Understood?"

"You're aware once Detective Ellison regains consciousness he'll demand to be with Blair, right?"

"I know, but I'll be guarding the kid until he comes to. So any issues Ellison is gonna have will be dealt with by yours truly. Now take off. I'll follow." Simon watched the woman walk away and readied himself mentally for the upcoming battle he would be waging with a very stubborn and pigheaded couple of men. 'Never a dull day with these two.' Casting one last furtive glance at the destruction, Simon steeled himself clapping his hand against the car keys in his pocket, and then headed after the retreating medical personnel and his two injured men.


	14. Chapter 14

Simon Banks hated the waiting most of all. It was one person after another coming in to check on his police consultant and the read outs of the various machines all hooked up to him. A few times the monotony of it was broken up. Like when he escorted Sandburg's unconscious form lying on a hospital bed as it was wheeled to various parts of the hospital for testing.

The kid had undergone a CAT Scan and an MRI already. The results of those tests had as of yet not been communicated to the intimidating police Captain. Though Simon felt he was displaying an inordinate level of patience he was still unaccustomed to not getting his way immediately. It had him becoming more and more irritable. Every time the hospital door opened he tensed in anticipation of two visitors: One a belligerent, ex-covert ops, army ranger, and at current Detective demanding access to his roommate and best friend; while the other was the kid's physician Dr. Falon, whom he was promised to see more than an hour ago. Normally he'd never have tolerated such unprofessional behavior with regards to a member of his team, but Simon was in his car following the ambulance en route to the hospital when he heard the call come in. There had been a major pile up on the free way and as Cascade General was the nearest Hospital with the facilities equipped to handle the types of injuries that were being anticipated, all the victims were being routed there. All medical staff were in a state of chaos as they arrived.

Half an hour after getting set up in the small private hospital room Simon received word from the officer guarding Jim that the Detective was stable, had regained consciousness and was demanding to see Sandburg. He growled over the phone to keep him in his room and not to allow him out under any circumstance. Simon could hear Jim's eruption over the line as he wished the officer luck in dealing with his belligerent charge.

As a result of the multiple car pile up hospital staff were spread thin and racing to accommodate the needs of everyone. All the staff who came into the room to check on the well known young man tried their best to reassure the big black man keeping vigil by the student's bedside that the doctor would be there soon. They reasoned with him that if Dr. Falon hadn't been here already after seeing the results of the tests then it meant the young man wasn't really in any danger. It made sense but he was still upset. Time was passing and there still was no sign of Blair waking up. He occupied his time by taking calls from his officers in the field; listening with only half his attention on the updates they gave him.

"Oh god kid, I hope I'm doing the right thing..." It scared the crap out of Simon to see the kid so lifeless. While he normally moaned and groused about the hyperactive man's seemingly never ending supply of energy and enthusiasm it was at times like these when Blair was unnaturally still or quiet that Simon was forced to acknowledge he could miss the youth and his irritatingly perky personality.

"You better be okay, Sandburg, or I might just have some very irate detectives to answer to before long." Giving in to the fact that he'd been in the hospital with Blair for the last hour and a half and still the young man showed no signs of stirring; Simon dropped into an uncomfortable chair at the kid's bedside.

Mindful of the wires and tubes all attached to Sandburg, Simon rested his large dark hand on the small pale one. He wished the kid were awake to share what happened with him. He let his thumb gently rub circles across Blair's dry knuckles secretly hoping the contact would elicit some response. It was a comforting gesture he regularly employed with his son Daryl when he was sick and miserable. He groaned in amusement as he did the same with this albeit slightly older student. Normally Jim would be the one glued to Sandburg's side so he felt obligated to stand in since he was keeping the two apart.

He thought of Ellison in a room at the other side of the wing they were currently on. Banks wasn't too worried about his friend. Well, worried about him physically anyway...mentally was another matter. While the man had suffered some blood loss, thankfully with a prescription of blood expanders and lots of IV fluids he'd been all but guaranteed a full recovery and clean bill of health. The hospital was only keeping him for a couple of hours as they administered an antibiotic to stave off infection to his injured hand.

Simon was grateful for the time. It was Ellison's psychological wellbeing he was really concerned about. From what he'd gathered from Sandburg earlier that afternoon Jim had already been having issues with his senses likely resulting in his unintentionally hurting the kid. Jim was a very strong capable soldier and the idea of him losing his control around Sandburg made Simon whistle low.

Banks chose to give his friend the benefit of the doubt that it had been an accident. Now he worried he'd made a mistake. Blair getting hurt again so soon with Jim around didn't bode well with Simon. Plus, add to that at least one witness who claimed he saw Jim rough up Blair in the restroom and he was forced to face the possibility that it might be Ellison who'd put the young man in the bed before him.

Banks didn't relish the upcoming confrontation when Jim was released from medical care. If Ellison was keeping tabs on the kid since he'd woken up then he would know that Sandburg still hadn't regained consciousness. There was no doubt in the Captain's mind that the man would head straight over here. God help whoever got in the way of him and his partner. Simon prayed for the strength needed to hold to his resolve of not allowing Ellison near Sandburg until he'd heard the results of Megan's investigation back at the precinct.

There was a quiet knock at the door before it swung open to reveal Dr. Falon; a man in his late fifties with wavy auburn hair peppered with silver around the crown and kind hazel eyes. Blair had personally selected this physician as Jim's primary care doctor due to his willingness to work outside of mainstream medicine. Simon felt his shoulders sag in relief at the sight of the man. "He hasn't woken up yet. Is that normal? Did the tests reveal any reason why he's still out of it?"

Falon's hands were tucked in his pockets as he walked over to the foot of his patient's bed. Simon could see that the physician was exhausted. He could sympathize with the man.

"Firstly, I would like to apologize, Captain Banks, for taking so long in coming to check on you. I placed Blair in the hands of some of my most capable nurses I want to assure you. Still it was unprofessional for me to get sidetracked for so long. I'm sure you're eager to know why our stubborn young man hasn't woken up yet...Well, I wish I could tell you. The results showed he has some minor swelling on the surface of his brain conclusive with our diagnosis of a mild concussion, several vertebrae C1-C6 in fact were swollen as well, it's a sign of violent shaking. So until we can reduce the swelling we won't know for certain if he suffered whiplash as a result of the assault. His back, especially the area around his shoulder blades, is heavily bruised and he'll be very sore when he wakes up-"

"So he will wake up." Simon didn't hide the hopeful tone in his voice as he clung to the one positive thing he'd heard the physician say.

"Every head injury is a unique case, Captain, and it must be handled as such. There's no permanent damage from all outward and inward appearances. He should have woken up already. And yet..." Dr. Falon motioned towards the bed's occupant in frustration. He snatched up the clipboard hanging on the foot rail and flipped through some of the charts and notes. "All we can really do is keep him comfortable until Mr. Sandburg's body decides its ready for him to wake up."

Simon watched the doctor walk over to the head of the bed and pull a pen light out of his pocket. He watched the man lean forward and lift each eyelid, checking blue eyes for uneven dilation. The doctor shook his head pursing his lips as he continued to make an adjustment to fluid lines here and there. Observing the man, Simon could tell he was working up the nerve to broach some topic with him. "What is it you want to say to me Dr. Falon?" he watched the Doctor smile as he finished his examination.

"You read people well, Banks."

"I worked hard to become, Captain. You'd be surprised how much sticks and how many people underestimate that." Simon watched Falon hang the chart back up and then adopt an air of determination as he walked around to face him.

"You and I, Mr. Banks, see things in our line of work; things that over time we become well trained at spotting and quickly identifying. Would you agree with me?"

Simon had the feeling he knew where this conversation was going. He nodded remaining silent allowing the doctor to continue.

"As a doctor we use the art of observation to help us diagnose illness and treat our patients. Victims of assault normally display signs of self-defense inflicted injuries: bruised fingers, arms and hands as the victim struggles to protect themselves. Mr. Sandburg has no such signs. Not only that but the injuries sustained while under attack by an assailant, especially one who purposefully tries to inflict harm, tend to be scattered all over the body: blows to the face, stomach, ribs, lower back and legs...Again Mr Sandburg has none of these types of injuries. His injuries are consistent with someone having grabbed him by the upper arms shaking him violently, then repeatedly slamming him up against a very hard surface." The doctor watched the black man nod his head as he listened to his interpretation of Blair's injuries.

"Your point?" Simon Banks looked away from the doctor to the man under his protection.

Falon took a deep breath and plowed on ahead, hoping that what he'd observed in the Captain's actions thus far was an indication of his unbiased stand regarding his patient's situation. "The reason I bring this to your attention Captain Banks is because you and I know these men. They are closer than most family members. Sadly, even families are known to have domestic disputes…" Falon inhaled deeply coming to the point. "I need to know if the reason you have them separated has to do with why I found no defensive wounds on Mr. Sandburg? Because unless you can provide me with a legal reason to prove Blair is in danger from Ellison I have no legal recourse to deny the man access to Sandburg. And I must say I would rather not place him in any more danger or stress. But at the other end of this medical wing, you see, Ellison is demanding to exercise his legal rights as agent of Sandburg's durable power of attorney."

"I do see." Simon rubbed a hand over his face and stood up. He'd known this was coming. "I'd hoped my detective would've gotten back to me with some concrete information by now. We are looking into what happened since the assault took place while there were very little witnesses." He pulled out his cell phone and motioned to it. "Let me call in and see what they've discovered so far. Can you give me that much time?"

Dr. Falon nodded his head. "We will be releasing Ellison in half an hour. You have until he is discharged. After that if he threatens legal action my hands are tied, we'll have no choice but to allow him in here unless there's some type of restraining order in place or charges pending against him. I wish I could give you more time or be of more assistance." He turned to check Blair's lines again.

"Thank you. I should have guessed they'd have something in place..." Simon turned his back on the physician as his phone connected with his secretary's desk, his body language dismissing the man. "Rhonda? Hi...yes as far as the doctors can tell he's fine...they can't seem to get him to wake up...yeah I need to speak with Connor...Would you? Thanks."

The sound of Falon quietly excusing his self registered at the back of Simon's mind while he waited to be transferred over to Megan's desk. When he heard the Aussie's clipped greeting he got straight to the point. "What have you found?"

["I've gone through the surveillance and there is no sign that Cooper ever came into the building."]

Simon cursed quietly. "I was afraid of that. What about Peterson? Did you track him down?"

["Yes, but he's refusing to talk about what happened."]

"What?!"

["I'm with you there, mate. Erm- Captain, Sir. He wants to head over to the hospital. Sir, he knows how close Sandy is to Jim and he doesn't want to sing unless he has his permission. First he wants a chance to speak with Sandy. He said he wasn't going to be known as the newb who broke up Cacade's finest team, Cap. "]

"Great. How does this kid evoke so much loyalty in my men so quickly?"

["Blimey if I know, Sir. He seems to just win 'em over."]

"What about Joel? Taggart was the one Peterson went to in search of help. What exactly does Joel remember him saying?"

["I spoke with Cpt. Taggart as well and yes Peterson did tell him a bit more but he can't remember everything he said. Part of it he blames on being in , disbelief of what Peterson was telling him and the rest has to do with how hard the Cap was panting while Peterson was talking to him. Seems he had a bit of difficulty ascending the stairs, sir."]

This was not good news to him. He was forced between a rock and a hard place now. There was no way Peterson would get here in time for him to force the young officer to give him the information he so badly needed. Jim would be released before then, not that it really mattered in the long run since the kid was still out cold. The most important thing for him was to stay by Sandburg's side to guard him. Whether he could manage that if he continued on bad terms with Ellison was doubtful. Heaving a heavy sigh he returned his thoughts to Megan at the other end of the line. "Thanks Connor. Take Officer Martin with you back to Stoddard's house to start searching for clues. I'll deal with things over here. Oh and has Peterson left yet?"

["No sir, he's right beside me."]

"Have him bring Jim's truck to the hospital. It's down in the garage. Ellison keeps a spare key in his locker. He can hitch a ride back with another patrol."

["Will do, sir. Take care and let us know when Sandy wakes up."]

"Of course." Simon lowered the phone as Connor hung up. He stared at his cell thinking about how he should handle this. So far he had no evidence against Jim aside from his gut feeling. Even that was questionable though taking into account all the effort Ellison put into keeping his partner safe. Were it any other team he'd have no problem but the fact that this could all be as a result of some horrendous Sentinel thing made him hesitate to act without the kid's guidance. Never before had Banks wished so badly that he could simply chalk something up to weird Sentinel crap and then close the book on the whole thing. Simon stared at Sandburg lying deceptively peaceful in the hospital bed.

He thought back to his current dilemma and the dwindling time he had left before Jim would be threatening everyone under the sun to be with the kid. He knew the man cared about Sandburg. He glanced at the wall clock and straightened to his full height of six feet seven inches, snapping his cell shut and shoving it in his coat pocket. "It seems like a preemptive strike might be in order, Sandburg."

Banks walked out of the room and nodded in approval at the two officer's standing on either side of him guarding the police observer's door. "I am heading to Ellison. Nobody goes in there while I am gone. Nobody."

"Understood, sir."

Feeling confident in his men's abilities Simon headed left down the corridor in the direction of his other friend and senior detective. He had just raised his hand to knock for permission to enter when a gruff 'Come' was heard through the door. He shook his head as he walked through the doorframe into the room. "You know I hate it when you do that, Jim."

Simon stopped a couple steps into the room. He looked Ellison over from head to toe. The man had his back turned on him standing ramrod straight and was looking out the hospital window over the cityscape. The way he stood reminded Simon that this man was still very much military and when challenged reverted back to military training as a defense mechanism. Jim had his arms clasped together behind his back and he could see one hand was heavily bandaged. The man was in hospital scrubs. "I didn't realize there was enough blood on your clothes for you to need replacements. I can call someone at the office to pick some up from your locker?"

Ellison ignored the attempt at casual civility and familiarity from the man behind him he considered his friend and cut straight to the heart of the matter. "Why haven't I been allowed to see him, Simon?" Jim's voice was hard but there was weariness to it that spoke of the emotional weight he was suffering. The officers at the door hadn't allowed him out of his room and all inquiries about his partner had been met with deaf ears.

If it hadn't been for the Sentinel senses Jim wouldn't have even known anything about Blair's condition. His dials had been acting up ever since he woke up and without Sandburg to ground him and establish a base line he was basically handicapped where using them were concerned. Sometimes they worked but for the most part they were unreliable unless used to check on the status of his guide's health. As it was he could pick up fragments of conversations here and there but not much. He was grateful his ability to focus in on the kid's heart seemed unaffected by the separation from his guide. 'Thank god for small blessings...'

Simon acknowledged Jim's refusal of his attempt at small talk, 'Here we go.' "What do you remember, Jim?"

"I was in the garage getting our stuff loaded into the loaner, keeping tabs on the kid like normal when his heart rate skyrocketed. He sounded like he was about to have a heart attack."

"Jesus! You could hear his heart beating seven floors down?!" Simon hadn't meant to interrupt but it still amazed him what Jim was capable of doing.

Jim turned around to give his Captain a wry pained smile. "It's my life line to the kid, Simon. I can hear it further than anything else; at least any sound that we've tested. His heartbeat is always on the edge of my awareness. Though I've kept that bit of information from Blair for the most part…god only knows the horrible tests he'd put me through if he knew..." He walked up to face off with Simon his stance firm but respectful. He kept him arms behind his back as he continued, "I charged up the stairs to find out what was wrong when halfway up I lost him. His heartbeat was swallowed up by the sounds of running water in the restroom. Stinking kid had every urinal, toilet, faucet and hand-dryer going at once to keep me from hearing what was happening." Ellison's eyes hardened when he spoke next, "I wondered what would make Blair do that sir? And then it hit me."

"Cooper."

"That's what I figured. I wasn't sure though until I reached the door to the restroom and he unlocked it for me. Last thing I can remember clearly was the smell of that psycho pouring off Blair and out of the bathroom and then a hazy red fog filling my vision. Next thing I know I'm on the floor and Joel is pulling me from a zone out and Blair's blood is on my hands mixed with my own with the kid lying on the floor a couple feet away from us, but Cooper was gone. I think I passed out from blood loss when I tried to reach Blair. Other than the gaps in my memory you know the rest." Jim took a deep breath centering him as he addressed his Captain. "Now why haven't I been allowed to see my partner, sir?"

Simon had to hand it to his detective the man had a one track mind. "I had Megan go over the video surveillance at the station, Jim...Cooper was never there. He never came into the station."

"That's bull! He had to be there. I smelled him! You didn't hear Sandburg's heart exploding in chest or smell the fear rolling of him in waves! I did. Cooper got to Blair somehow-" Jim knew he was shouting so he stopped and tried to rein in his emotions. He wouldn't win any arguments with his superior if he couldn't keep his cool. He could feel his flushed face burning with barely suppressed anger. "Maybe the feed was altered somehow, because what I smelled was fresh that much I'm certain of. How do you fake that?" He relaxed his stance raising his uninjured hand to massage his neck. "I wish I could remember what happened. All I want to do is wrap my hands around Cooper's neck and-"

"Ellison! That's enough! You may not recall what happened during that time period but Officer Peterson walked in on it. Whatever he saw compelled him to get Joel. Taggart told me, while they were wheeling the two of you out, that Peterson saw you and Blair fighting. Now whatever else he saw might shed some light on what happened. Because as I'm sure you're aware Sandburg is still unconscious so we can't question him and there are no camera's in the bathroom." Simon paused gathering strength for what he would suggest next. "Megan tried to question Peterson but he says he won't talk until he gets to speak with the kid. So, what I'm asking from you is to give me until the kid wakes up and Peterson talks to him. That's all I'm asking."

Jim bristled; his Captain was throwing too much information his way, making his head feel like it was stuffed with cotton. Somewhere in the words of the big man he'd heard something that didn't sit well with him though. He tried to focus on his primary goal but the nagging feeling at the back of his mind lingered as he answered his superior. "No can do Simon. I need to see Blair. He should've woken up by now. I heard what the doctor said: They don't know why he hasn't come out of this yet. I might be able to help. The kid always responds when I'm around. Modern medicine might not be able to reach him but maybe his blessed protector can."

"Why did I have the feeling you wouldn't cooperate." Simon rubbed his hands over his face beneath the turtle-shell framed prescription lenses. "How about I give you access to Sandburg as soon as you are discharged only as long as I or another officer are present? Do we have a deal?"

Jim nodded relaxing with the knowledge that he would be with his guide soon and wouldn't have to fight to get there. He had every right to be at Sandburg's bedside especially in this case where all medical decisions would ultimately be his to make in regards to his partner's healthcare. Still he was exhausted and honestly didn't feel up to fighting the point. He moved to sit on the edge of the hospital bed grateful that he'd been given scrubs rather than a hospital gown. "Sure I don't see a problem with that, but Blair might blow a-" Then like a slap to the face, his blood starved mind finally caught up with everything Simon said to him and the entailed implications. He froze in the act of sitting on the bed and looked over at Simon. When he was able to overcome his shock, he spoke quickly trying to disguise his hurt feelings with a cold and unfeeling tone, "You think I attacked him."

Simon's own heart ached for the man standing in obvious disbelief before him. He could see Jim's reaction for what it was. "We have to consider all the possibilities, Jim. It's what we do."

Jim's chest constricted, the idea was so far fetched to him that he hadn't even considered it a possibility. "I could never hurt... It goes against everything I stand for, sir, everything I am."

Captain Banks cringed inwardly. This was why officers were taken off investigations where they were too closely linked to the case at hand. It was nigh impossible to remain objective. "Ellison you were the one telling me a few weeks back how close you came to killing the kid back when you smelled Cooper on him. Now granted I don't claim to know anywhere near as much as the kid does when it comes to this Sentinel crap but if you had that feeling once who's to say it couldn't happen again?" He stepped forward laying a hand on the man's tense shoulder. "Then there was the incident which led to the kid's wrist getting a hairline fracture..."

Jim had felt uneasy before, but this news made him pale even more. "Fracture?" He pushed Simon's hand off his shoulder wincing as he forget not to use his injured hand.

Simon didn't take offense he simply nodded, "They took some x-rays when he was brought in. He's got a cast up to his elbow. What happened there, Jim?"

"I didn't think I'd gripped him that hard, Simon." Ellison said rigidly as he tried to wrap his head around what his Captain was saying. He searched the man's big brown eyes. Simon wasn't joking with him. He was seriously under suspicion for Blair's attack. The disbelief he initially felt upon realizing Simon's suspicions and why he'd kept him from Blair was being replaced with defiant anger now. "That was unfortunate but unintentional, ask Blair. He tried to lift some papers off me at the loft, my instincts took over and I had him on his knees, grabbing his wrist and twisting it so I could get them back. The second I realized what had happened I released him! It was a reflex Simon. An ingrained cop reflex."

"Christ, why would Sandburg pull something like that?!" Banks took a moment to think how he might've handled a pickpocket even if it was someone he knew. Some reflexes were hard to dismiss in their line of work. "Okay I can see how that happened, but still why did the kid the need to cross that line?" He watched Jim swallow and dart his eyes away. It was something Simon saw his partner do all the time. 'These two are spending way too much time together.' "What's going on, Jim?"

The detective debated telling Simon everything, but he needed to gain his Captain's cooperation and he knew only one hundred percent honesty would get him that. "Elli gave me some documents early this morning, things that were recovered after the fire at Hargrove Hall. Stuff about Sentinels and their Guides." Ellison sent his hearing out to ensure that they weren't about to have any unwelcome visitors. He still felt the need to lower his voice even though it seemed that the coast was clear. "Well I had planned on reading the material first and then passing it on to Sandburg. But after discovering what else Stoddard included in his personal notes I decided that perhaps I'd hold off on that for a while at the least until this whole thing with Cooper died down."

Simon wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer to the question he was about to ask, "What did you find in the notes?"

"Professor Stoddard revealed he was Sandburg's biological father in the journal, Simon." Jim would have laughed at the way the big man's mouth was gaping at him if the situation were remotely funny.

"Christ! Tell me you're kidding!"

"I wish, Simon. Believe me, I wish it were a joke. But its not and Sandburg doesn't have a clue. After reading what that coward gave me and knowing the position he'd put me in I flipped out, called Elli, then ripped into him over the phone. I was so caught up in the mess I forgot to hide the papers; I just tucked them in my back pocket. Sandburg came home and could tell something was up instantly. I tried to hide how upset I was but he's just too observant for his own good! I didn't want to go into it yet...I wasn't even sure I should tell him, in all honesty." Jim couldn't even begin to imagine the reaction his roommate would have on hearing the news.

"Crap. Let me guess what comes next: He sees the papers sticking out of your pocket and thinks lets skip straight to the source of the problem. And you panicked." Banks sighed and turned around taking a moment to think. "...I'm going to need therapy by the end of this..." he mumbled. "You make things so hard on the kid, Jim...I cant say I blame him for trying what he did. It was wrong but I understand."

Jim answered his Captain's exasperation with a humorless laugh of his own. "Sandburg said and I quote it'd be nice to skip the emotional and psychological constipation for once and just find out for himself what Mr. Stoic seemed so determined to keep from him... end quote." He glanced at the clock on the wall. He had five minutes before the Dr. Falon would be by to free him from his imposed rest and rehabilitation. His friend's appearance had made the time fly by which was an unexpected blessing. He'd been going stir crazy counting down the minutes till he could be at his partner's side.

From an investigator's point of view everything Jim told Banks could be seen as damning evidence. "This is not good, Jim. You've made quite a mess for yourself this time. Do you see how this looks? Going to see Stoddard right before he disappears? Then reacting to your partner's stupidity in such a harsh way? And now this whole mess with the kid being attacked and you're the only one around we have evidence of? If this case gets taken away from Major Crimes and someone else starts investigating…someone who doesn't have the intimate knowledge of how you tick…it could get bad. I've never wanted that kid to wake up and start talking as bad as I do right this moment."

Jim stepped forward quickly. He'd forgotten to monitor his guide throughout their discussion. A quick scan directed at the other end of the wing he was in told him Sandburg was still deep in sleep. As he confronted the issue of his partner's continued comma like state he pushed his other anxieties away to be dealt with at some other time. What he needed to focus on now was his responsibility to take care of the student. "Simon keep whoever you want with me and the kid, for as long as you like if it makes you feel better. Just don't fight me about seeing him. I know I can bring him out of this. I've got to at least try. Blair would do no less for me and you know it."

Simon didn't much appreciate the demand or the stubbornness Jim's body language was conveying but one look into the earnest blue eyes of his best detective and he caved. "Just do me a favor and stay alert to how you're feeling around him. Until we know otherwise the possibility still exists that it could've been you who attacked Sandburg as much as I want to believe otherwise. You start feeling weird in any way and I want you to tell me immediately or beat it out of there. Am I clear?"

Jim opened his mouth to say something in response when he shifted his attention from Simon to the door. "Dr. Falon is here. Looks like they are finally setting me free."

Banks saw his detective fairly vibrate with anticipation. 'Yup, he's definitely spending way too much time with Sandburg.' He turned to greet the physician who walked through the door and sent a questioning look his way. He shrugged his shoulders shaking his head no to inform the doctor that he couldn't stop this but he would monitor it personally. Falon seemed to understand the silent message nodding his head in resigned acceptance. "I was just about to escort Detective Ellison to Sandburg's room doctor. Is he good to go?"

When Falon walked in the door Jim could smell Sandburg's scent on him. It had been the same with Simon. Jim took a deep breath as his physician walked up close to speak with him and he used the scent to calm himself. "Can I hit the road, doc?" He saw the freckled face frown.

"Mr. Ellison I realize you hate being here but please try to conceal some of your exuberance at the prospect of leaving my care." Falon handed Ellison a clipboard with several discharge forms for him to sign. He held out a wooden pen and then rolled his eyes at the raised eyebrows the sight of it caused. "My grandson made this for me in grade school." The pen was removed from his hand and examined like it was an embarrassment to be seen with. He glowered at the two cops in front of him. "Just sign the papers you moron. And remember just because you're no longer my patient doesn't mean you no longer have to interact with me."

Simon carefully held back from showing the surprise he felt at the casual way the doctor addressed Ellison, barely managing to suppress a snort of amusement at his detective's expense. He had a feeling this was another reason Sandburg had chosen this physician for the ornery Sentinel standing beside him. He watched as Jim signed the final document with an exaggerated flourish then handed the clipboard back. He left the man's side to gather the hospital bag with Ellison's belongings and when he'd turned back around growled as he saw the hospital door swinging closed behind the aforementioned detective. "I'm going to flail that man alive, Falon." He rushed after his detective missing the doctor's whispered affection laced response.

"As well as about a dozen other people I can think of..."


	15. Chapter 15

"Rise Young Shaman."

Blair clenched his eyes shut tighter, hoping his best friend would get the hint. He felt a light touch against his forehead brushing some curls from his face. Clearly the man was not getting the message. He rolled over and away from the touch murmuring into his earthy pillow, "g'way man… wanna sleep s'more..."

There was a momentary reprieve from his irritator before a sopping wet bundle of fabric was thrown on his exposed bare back. 'Holy cow that's COLD!' Blair rolled over quickly, dislodging the offending item to look up and glare at his roommate. 'Uh-oh.' He wasn't in his bedroom or the loft for that matter. And the person who'd so rudely woken him wasn't his roommate.

Blair Sandburg was seeing blue. Scratch that, the world was blue. The sight made his stomach clench with knots. This was familiar in an uh-oh sort of way. It was the vision scape he had seen only once not too long ago when Jim had pulled him back from the brink of death. He took a moment to absorb his environment. The normal sounds of jungle life were absent leaving a silent void to hang heavily in the air surrounding him. He looked down at the bed he thought he'd been sleeping on to find instead soft leaf detritus. It clung to his bare chest, arms, legs and hair. ' This is unreal...'

Remembering how Jim had described him once in one of the Sentinel's dreams he cast his eyes downward and breathed a sigh of relief at the loincloth girding his hips. 'Well at least this is new...'

"Rise young one." The voice that had initially woken him up returned louder and more insistent.

'That voice...' It was familiar too. Blair closed his eyes as he tried to place the voice in his memory. Part of him was terrified about addressing its owner. That voice had haunted his dreams for quite a while. Opening his eyes Blair turned his head towards the source of the voice. He swallowed trying to quench his suddenly dry throat as he climbed to his feet to stand before the dead Chopec Shaman who had guided Jim in his time in Peru. 'Incacha.' The dead shaman looked exactly the same as he did when Sandburg had last seen him alive. Looking uncertainly now at the Chopec Indian and his surroundings he asked the dreaded question, "Am I dead?" He watched the painted face studying him split into a smile.

"No young one. You are waiting."

Blair felt some of the unease that had settled over him lift making breathing much easier. "Waiting for what?"

"Your Sentinel."

Blair massaged the back of his neck; he clearly wasn't communicating correctly what he wanted to know. "What I meant is how did I get here Incacha? I didn't mean to come here."

"You are late and should have come long ago."

'Great riddles.' Puffing out a breath of air in frustration the anthropologist tried a different approach. "Last time I was here it was because I was dying. Now you tell me I'm not dying, but just waiting for Jim? Okay, but does that mean he's the one hurt? Is Enquiri hurt? Is that why I'm here?"

"No. Enquiri is unharmed. He searches for you."

"Phew! So the big guy is fine. Okay, so getting a little more useful information. That's good." He started to pace in the small clearing they were occupying, his curiosity about the place warring with his impatience. "Why is he searching for me?"

"These are not your questions, young one."

"Well excuse me but it's not like I have any idea how to do this or whether there is some proper protocol on how to act when experiencing a vision so cut me some slack here all right?" His shoulders sagged in disappointment. He hadn't meant to snap at the old shaman. He wanted to know why he was here. It bothered him that he wasn't sure of the etiquette for the situation he was in right now. He slowly turned around taking in the surreal setting. When he came back around to face Incacha he had a desperate look on his face. "I don't think I belong here."

"This was always your path Shaman."

"Don't say that! You have no idea how hard I've worked to try to help, to be what Jim needs...but I keep failing. I don't know how to be his Shaman. Heck I barely know how to be his Guide!"

Incacha watched the negative emotions flit across the face of Enquiri's Guide. He frowned in disapproval when he read the emotions settle on a feeling of general self-depreciation. In a swift motion he removed the bow secured across his shoulders and used the flexible wooden weapon to thwack the shaman hard against the leg. He had to stifle the smile the young man's startled yelp elicited.

"Ow! Was that necessary?" Blair hopped on one bare foot as he gingerly rubbed the side of his leg. When the sting subsided he stood tall in front of the Chopec and threw decorum and etiquette out the window. "What the heck man! Why did you do that? If you want to berate me join the club, but if you're gonna take a cheap shot at me I've already got more of that than I care to handle so back off."

Incacha smiled glad to see the fire and spirit back where it belonged. This was the man he'd known would be Enquiri's Guide. "What good will you be in defending yourself or Enquiri if you are distracted belittling and second guessing yourself?" The Chopec stepped closer invading the young man's personal space. He had felt the guide was in trouble, but just not known the extent of danger he was in. Now that he stood before him he could tell how much damage had been done to the young shaman before him. The uncertainty Enquiri's guide displayed in his abilities was like a disease eating away his strength and confidence. "You have always had what you need to help Enquiri with you young one. Here..." He poked the pale chest where the heart beat and then moved his hands to hold them against either side of his curly head, "...and here."

Blair closed his eyes swallowing back tears born of frustration and fears of failure. "I have no one to talk to, nobody to call on to benefit from their knowledge, no one with experience gained over the years. Only an old mostly useless book. Most of everything I do is guess work, Incacha. It's bound to get him killed eventually." He felt the hands leave his head and drop to his shoulders.

"No, you are driven by instinct and you respond well to the leadings of your heart. You have done well little one. You can not be faulted if Enquiri refuses to heed the wisdom of his guide."

"Hah! Wisdom? I doubt he would refer to it as that...Its always a struggle. He doesn't trust me. He always fights me so much. It hurts and I'm getting so tired." Blair shrugged the hands off his shoulder and turned away. It was nice to confide in someone even if it was the person he was always measuring himself against.

"Why do you hurt Shaman?" Incacha asked, silently watching as the young man walked away from him to one side of the clearing.

"Enquiri respected you, Incacha, listened to you..." It hurt to think how much longer he'd been with Jim than Incacha had. How much more work and help he'd offered the Sentinel. Help to control and manipulate his senses and yet it still didn't seem to be enough for the man. Even though he worked hard to anticipate the sentinel's needs Blair feared Jim would one day realize he was flying by the seat of his pants. He was beginning to wonder if his friend might be better off with someone else. He took a deep breath, "He won't do that with me no matter how hard I work for it...he won't give me his trust."

Blair thought of the last time he was here and the wolf he'd become. He had a sudden urge to be that powerful creature again so carefree and confident in its path. 'Great run from your problems cause that's worked sooo well in the past.' Walking over to one of the trees on the edge of the path he let his hands run down the rough bark. It was a species of tree he had never seen. The tree vibrated with life beneath his hands. "Tell me what to do Incacha." His hand was becoming warm where it rested against the trunk. The warmth spread through him like the affection that came along with a hug.

Incacha watched the young Shaman lean his body against the tree drawing from its strength and smiled. He shook his head at how dense the white man could be and stepped forward pulling the longhaired man away from the tree. "I see a Shaman before me who already knows what he must do." When he detached the man from the tree he spoke firmly, "Come. I have much to share with you about stubborn Sentinels before Enquiri returns for you." He didn't wait to see if the longhaired man would follow but simply turned around heading in the direction of the temple of Guides.

Blair hurried after the man. "Wait, Jim is gonna come here? As in this plane of existence not just to where my body is? How? You sure he's all right? I mean it took me passing out to get here, didn't it...Incacha please I need more information!" He raced up to walk alongside his best friend's former Shaman. It was difficult since the jungle path was overgrown and narrow. He kept tripping and stumbling when he would try to study the rich tanned face for any signs that he'd acknowledged his inquiries.

After the third fall over a hidden root Incacha took pity on the stubborn young man and paused their trek through the jungle. "Enquiri is unharmed, Shaman. He will not join us this time, but later when you return together as one. When the Sentinel calls the Guide must heed though."

Blair sat back on his haunches looking up at the man standing in the center of the path. Taking in the proud Chopec warrior standing before him Blair was again reminded of when he'd first met him. 'Course that time we hadn't been able to talk this freely,' The thought struck him as significant and suddenly he couldn't help the way his jaw seemed to hang open in wonder as his brain seemed to start kicking in. "Wait a minute..." Why had it taken so long for it to dawn on him that in this realm he could understand the old Indian when he normally shouldn't be able to? Sure he knew a little Chopec but nowhere enough to have the type of conversation he'd been having. A large awed smile spread across his face. "I can understand you..."

Incacha returned the white man's smile and walked forward to crouch in front of him. He patted a pale cheek with his calloused hand, "Finally you begin seeing your abilities..." The spark of hope he saw ignited in the deep blue eyes encouraged him. "You are stronger than you realize little one." He extended his hand out to help the shaman up to his feet. "Hurry your time is drawing close."

The young guide climbed to his feet with the support and then squared his shoulders following close on his heels.

After a short trip through the jungle, where he pestered the tight-lipped Shaman with myriads of questions, Incacha brought him to a large temple. It was different from the one he'd journeyed to with Jim after hunting Alex down. Somehow the anthropologist just knew this was the Temple of the Guides. Blair was stunned speechless. He looked over to Incacha with a face full of joy and wonder.

The dark Indian nodded his head and gestured toward the temple acknowledging the young man's inquisitive nature.

Before he realized he'd even moved a muscle Blair was up the twenty or so steep moss covered steps leading to the main entrance and running his hands over the old stone architecture. There were Incan carvings everywhere and belatedly he found he could clearly understand many of the pictographs. "Incacha this is amazing! I always believed there had to be a separate temple for the guides...but this is better than anything I could've imagined. Does it still exist?" The shaman silently appeared just over his shoulder nodding his head once more. "Wow..." Distracted by his sudden stealthy appearance the guide wondered if Incacha had actually walked the steps or just materialized behind him. In this place the latter was definitely possible. The wise man was looking past him to the carvings he'd been studying giving Blair a close up glimpse into the dark brown eyes. He could see fires burning throughout the flecks of brown and it captivated him. The closer he looked the more he felt drawn in by the pain knowledge and years of experience he could read within the shaman's eyes. His breathing shallowed as images of the Chopec's life flashed within the depths of the flickering flames.

Incacha felt the stirring of old memories in his mind and then noticed the blue eyes staring into his and jerked back. He fiercely smacked the young man across the cheek, snapping him back from the trance he'd slipped into. 'Stupid! He is untrained...and yet still so strong...' he chided himself for his carelessness. Though Enquiri's guide had no formal training as a Shaman, it was clear to the Chopec man that his abilities were strong even on at an instinctual level. Incacha waited as the guide gasped in lungfuls of air catching his breath while rubbing at the stinging cheek.

Blair felt his head pounding and his face burning. He fell back against the stonewall to support himself as he regained his equilibrium. "Ow! What was that for?!"

"The eyes are whirlpools, Shaman. Be careful you do not lose yourself in them." Incacha pulled the man away from the wall, spun him around and steered him towards the gaping entrance of the temple. "Even now while separated from Enquiri your powers grow, led as you are by your instinct to test your abilities, but danger comes with increased strength. You and Enquiri started a journey but have yet to finish it. Until this is accomplished you can not properly hone the gifts awakened in you."

Blair's gaze was drawn back to the wide range of animals carved into the outer walls of the stone edifice. Unlike with the Temple of the Sentinels that had the big Jaguar as its predominant mascot, here it was plain to see a wider range of animals each with their own unique strengths could represent the Guide. He thought about some of the things he'd seen when looking into the old man's eyes and then about what he was told.

"Incacha, what are you talking about? I may be able to do things here but I have no abilities as a Shaman in the real world. " Blair didn't even both masking the disappointment and trepidation from his voice. He hadn't missed the Indian telling him he'd awoken gifts. For the life of him he couldn't think of anything that he'd done to successfully cultivate that aspect of his personality. Not for lack of effort though, he'd tried everything legal that Jim would allow, meditation, self-hypnosis, special tea blends designed to cleanse his mind. Never once had all of his attempts garnered him one vision or out of body experience. Only at his death when Jim called him back from the edge of life and their two spirit animals merged did he finally experience the spirit realm. If he'd changed recently it certainly hadn't been his doing. He allowed himself to be guided to the yawning black entryway.

"The bond was initiated in an act of desperation when you were reborn, young one, but Enquiri forgot the old ways. He has always been stubborn in this way, refusing to listen to his heart. You need to take the path to the temple where the final bonding is completed. Do not fear the ties that bind though. Through these gifts the two become one and are made their strongest. They will manifest themselves now in times of need, but only with the full bond is in place will they be painless to wield. "

And then because Incacha felt somewhat guilty that he was encouraging this one to remain with the hardheaded Enquiri, he added. "Forgive him...but do not let the Sentinel dictate the way of the Shaman to you...You who listen to your instincts and heart and who knows more about the old ways than the Sentinel of the Great City ever will." Incacha heard the roar of a Jaguar far in the distance behind them and knew he was running out of time. He held the thin pale shoulders firmly speaking into the Guide's ear from behind. "Do not turn around!" The warning was hissed low. "Now, what do you hear?"

Blair tensed with the Jaguar's cry and the shaman's warning. "A Jaguar."

He wanted to turn around and look out into the landscape of trees and plants he knew to be right behind him. Look out and face the animal that was screaming out to him rather than stare into the growing void that threatened to swallow him whole. A thick veil of black nothingness hid the temple's interior. It felt alive to him. He could almost see the darkness expand as if the temple was a living creature breathing in and exhaling. If it weren't for the Indian solidly at his back he would have stumbled backward away from the void. "Incacha?..." He felt himself being shaken. 'Great I just can't escape this kind of treatment...'

The Shaman kept his steely grip on the man but turned his head to stare out at the jungle behind them. He could sense the other getting closer. He was out of time. "What do you hear?!" He asked again, not tearing his gaze away from the danger approaching them from behind. 'Enquiri, I can only protect him for so long where are you?'

Being familiar with the concept of a teacher guiding a student to the correct answer Blair stopped paying attention to the obvious, closed his eyes and tried to really listen. At first he could only hear the angry feline's cries as it continued to draw closer to them but with effort he ignored the sounds. Then he had to contend with the old man's quickening breaths as he was held fast to his spot at the temple's mouth, this too he overcame. In the end the hardest to drown out was his heart hammering in his ears and chest. Soon though, as he succeeded in ignoring each of these distractions, he began to hear a voice reaching out to him from the darkness before him. 'Who is that?...'

Incacha felt the young shaman take a tentative step forward on his own striving to hear what it was he was being directed to. He released his hold on the smaller shoulders allowing him the freedom to move. "You must decide now, shaman, whether to follow what you hear without question and in spite of any obstacles which may stand in your path..." He could just make out the scarred jaguar bounding down the jungle path towards the temple now. He turned his attention back to Enquiri's guide, "Or turn and face an alternate course with the one who provoked your gifts without your knowledge or consent."

Blair hesitated, looking back over his shoulder with wide desperate eyes at the wise old man, "He did? How?!"

Incacha sadly shook his head no. The time left was gone, he could explain no more. What he'd shared so far would have to suffice. "Decide!"

Blair faced the void again. The voice with tones of pleading being carried through the darkness from deep within the temple was Jim's, he was almost sure of it. He strained to make sense of the sounds. It was like trying to hear a whisper in amidst an arena of sports spectators. [...you're enjoying ... La-la land ... real world Chief...] 'Great, just typical,' he rolled his eyes, 'Knock me out, Jim, then get mad that I'm unconscious...' He wanted to laugh. That was the last thing he would've expected to hear coming from within the imposing temple.

The ridiculous urge to laugh disappeared with the renewed cry from the enraged animal charging towards the temple. 'Marvelous. Desperate Sentinel behind me. Desperate Sentinel before me...' Blair's eyes widened with sudden insight. He knew why he'd been brought here now; he knew the significance of the moment before him. Incacha had guided him to the point where a decision needed to be made. Who would he commit to as Guide? The friend of his heart who'd just beaten the crap out of him and who frequently balked at his guidance and instruction...or Cooper, the man who needed him, who had gone to great lengths to bring him to his side (albeit immoral as they were) and who might even let him publish his research without fear of reprisal? Blair smiled looking back at the old shaman in appreciation, "There was never really any question." He could see the scarred Jaguar at the base of the temple just beyond Incacha. "Thank you." He whipped his head around leaving the Indian behind and stepped into the temple letting the void envelop him.

"Be strong wolf..."

Blackness engulfed him. He blinked rapidly trying to get his sight to work. It felt like the darkness coated his entire being. Then he panicked, 'No-no-NO!' There was nothing beyond him but utter emptiness. He scrunched his eyes closed trying to rationalize the lack of vision as a result of his own actions and not some terrifying vacancy he'd stepped into. He felt like he was in a free-fall hurtling through nothingness without the benefit of knowing how close he was drawing to the ground. His mind felt paralyzed with fear. 'Oh god, Jim!'

He wanted to curl in on himself but for all he knew his limbs might as well have been gone since he couldn't feel himself. It was only morbid fascination that made him wonder how he could be numb to all sensation and yet feel the freezing cold stabbing at him like spikes. Suddenly he felt like he'd made the wrong decision. He wanted to be anywhere else but in this torturous place. 'oh please... help me...Jim?' He couldn't turn back if he wanted. He was a prisoner of the darkness.

The lack of light around him was suffocating. But the darkness wasn't satisfied with what it had accomplished outside. He felt it trying to claw its way inside his chest to smother out his own light. 'help...HELP!' He concentrated on kicking and lashing out at the creature it had become. He wanted to scream but paranoia told him if he opened his mouth the blackness would flood inside and he would drown again, only this time on nothing.

["...Come on Chief..."]

The darkness receded a fraction and Blair pounced on the sound of the voice like a lifeline. He let the sound wrap around him like a living shield.

["...at least do it for me..."]

It was as if his best friend's words were the single warm spot under the covers on a frigid bed with icy air threatening him all around. He wanted to bury himself in their protection and never come out again.

["...You're safe...I need you to wake up..."]

The more he surrounded himself with their presence the safer his world felt. He wasn't falling anymore. The voice drove away the darkness and pulled him towards an existence of warm living light.

["...make your Sentinel stop fretting... Please..."]

On a gamble Blair took a deep breath and opened his eyes.


	16. Chapter 16

For a moment Jim was concerned he might have to halt his determined march into Sandburg's hospital room. He felt an irrational sense of urgency driving him to his best friend's side. He could see the two officer's readying themselves for the inevitable oncoming confrontation. The fact that these were his fellow officers did nothing to deter him as he purposefully strode toward them. If he wasn't allowed through they'd probably find themselves in their very own rooms courtesy of one very single minded Sentinel.

Thank god Simon knew him well enough to address the problem. The Captain must've been frantically signaling to them from back down the corridor because right before Jim reached them one jumped aside giving him access to the door that was barred to him moments ago. He barely spared a thought for the other officer he carelessly knocked aside on his way in; the uniform fell to his butt in the middle of the corridor. 'Should've been faster...' he mused. The quicker officer followed in after him to stand just inside the room monitoring his activities.

Jim's entire focus was centered on the young man carefully tucked into the sterile white sheets. Even though it was a hospital room, apparently Blair had been occupying it long enough for his scent to settle over the other antiseptic smells that normally dominated the room. His raw nerves felt bathed in a cooling salve. 'He doesn't even have to actively try to help me for me to benefit from his presence.' The detective faltered as he drew close to the foot of the bed. He ignored Simon's warning last time, he wouldn't do it again.

Jim gripped the hard plastic rail and centered himself letting Blair's presence ground him as only it could. When he'd woken up a few hours ago in his own hospital room every sense had been way out of whack. He tried to turn them back to normal going through the mental exercise Sandburg taught him but nothing worked. He'd been too weak to do it on his own. Now again he pictured the five dials that previously seemed rusted at various levels in his mind's eye only this time he waited for his guide's presence to work its magic. He smiled as he felt the effect Blair had on the imagined dials; it was like pouring WD-40 over immoveable gears. He couldn't help the sigh that escaped as a result of his relief over finally being able to turn them all to normal settings. As much as he wanted to reach out to his friend, the tether to his sanity; he took a moment to analyze how he was 'feeling' just like Simon instructed. There was no tingling across his body, no itchy feeling at the base of his neck and most importantly no unsolicited anger welling up within him. His shoulders relaxed with this reassurance.

At some point Simon walked up to stand behind Jim without his notice and then place his hand on his shoulder to offer support. Now that he was calm and by Blair's side Jim registered the cigar smell behind him. "My senses weren't working properly. Just walking in here with him settled everything down. He didn't even need to walk me through it Simon. His presence was good enough. Why do I keep taking this for granted?"

Simon shrugged his shoulders, "Because you're a stubborn fool? I don't know. Feeling weird at all?"

"No. Everything seems to be normal, my senses are in the green." Jim walked over to the side of the bed. He examined his partner with a critical eye taking in the various medical lines running under the sheets and into his arm. His hand began to reach out of its own volition when he remembered the audience they still had. He caught Simon's eye and silently communicated his request with a jerk of his head in the direction of the extra guard. He watched his Captain mull the decision before ordering the officer out into the hall.

"Thanks, Simon."

"Just don't make me regret that decision." The tall black man shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other before cutting to the point. "So...do you have any idea how to do this? I mean last time when he died what did you-" His question tapered off as he realized what he'd said. "Sorry. It's not the same. It's just that this is so frustrating. There should be a manual on how to deal with you two when it comes to this crap."

"Would you believe Sandburg is working on one in the event something were to happen to him and I needed help or back up." With the stranger gone Jim felt a bit less self-conscious and so he carefully wrapped his hand around the kid's limp one resting on the sheets. He frowned at the lack of warmth and started rubbing the appendage between both his hands to promote circulation.

"Smart kid."

Ellison shook his head thinking back to Eli's notes. "No Simon, it wouldn't matter. I don't think there's supposed to be any replacement. We're a package deal...he just doesn't know it yet. " He could feel the older man at his side bristle at the revelation.

"I don't know if I like what your implying Jim. You saying if he dies, you die?"

Jim nodded his head. "And if I die, Sandburg dies. At least that's what Burton's research alluded to."

Simon couldn't imagine being tethered to the student in such a way. An involuntary shiver coursed through him when he tried to. "This Sentinel stuff just keeps getting weirder and weirder. Now I know why you didn't want to share that information with the kid."

It was impossible to miss the sarcasm lacing the man's words. Jim had to swallow back the retort he wanted to throw at his friend. "I wish I could get into this with you, sir, but now is not the time. Just do me a favor and keep an eye out for if I look like I'm zoning. Okay? Blair says I go from deep concentration to a vacant look and that my breathing gets real shallow. If that happens just keep trying to talk to me and I should eventually come out of it. Honestly, I don't really think it'll be a problem. I'm going to be focusing on him not something that might make my senses spike." He saw the discomfort Simon felt at what he was being asked to do but chose to ignore it. If the man was demanding to keep Sandburg under protective guard then he'd have to deal with all that task entailed.

Without turning around Jim hooked the leg of a chair with his foot and dragged it over, dropping into the hard plastic seat with a tired 'whomf'. He was still a little anemic after all and the last thing he needed was for Blair to come out of his mini coma to find him passed out because he'd carelessly overtaxed himself. He cringed just thinking about the lecture and chewing out the young man would give him.

For being as deficient in height as Blair was, his partner had made up for this perceived shortcoming with a sheer indomitable personality. Blair could intimidate with the best of them. With a loud clang Jim lowered the side rail and leaned onto the bed getting close enough to whisper conspiratorially in the kid's ear, "All right, buddy. I know you're enjoying your little down time in La-la land but it's time for you to join us in the real world, Chief."

The entire time Jim spoke he maintained contact with Sandburg's hand while using his other hand to lay across the student's forehead. "The doctors are telling Simon there isn't any reason for you to still be out of it kiddo. You don't want Simon to think your playing hooky now do you?"

Ellison tuned his hearing into the rhythms of the body beneath his hands searching for any signs that Blair was coming around. "Come on, Chief. I'm bored and if you wont wake up for yourself at least do it for me. You know I don't handle waiting well. Please kiddo. Come on, Blair. You're safe here...I wont let anything bad happen to you." He kept up the soothing litany of softly spoken words for a couple more seconds before he picked up the quickening beat of his Guide's heart. Excitement and relief flooded his face and he conveyed his hopefulness with a large smile to Simon standing at the foot of the bed.

"Should I get the doctor?"

"Can you hold off so I can have a moment to talk to him first?" Jim knew he was pushing the envelope.

"Fine. I'm going to sit by the window. Just remember at the first sign of anything wrong or off, get out. Don't push it, are we clear?" Simon walked away past the drawn-back curtain partition and the empty second bed to the window and recliner at the far end of the room.

Jim waited until his Captain was seated as comfortably as possible and then turned his attention back to the individual in the bed he was leaning against. "Come on Sandburg, I need you to wake up." He whispered his pleadings while stroking back a few errant curls that had fallen across Blair's face. He studied the student in fond exasperation. "Listen, Chief you keep getting hurt like this and I won't have to worry about a receding hairline, you'll make me go prematurely grey. Just open those baby blues and make your Sentinel stop fretting... Please..." His breath caught as the head beneath his hand slowly turned to towards him. "That's it buddy. Now just open your eyes..." Jim watched his best friend's brow furrow before two tired blue eyes fluttered open.

The Detective would have roared in triumph if he thought it wouldn't send in the cavalry. As it was he reined in his exuberance, having to be content with a face splitting grin. He'd succeeded where the Doctor's had failed. The young man had responded to his presence much in the same way he himself did to Sandburg's. In the back of his mind he acknowledged the nurses would be alerting the doctor to the change in vitals from his friend and would be sending the doctor in soon enough. He might not have much time with Blair. "Hey, Chief. Nice of you to join us." He threw caution to the wind and continued stroking the curls back away from his brow.

"jim..." Blair smiled, happy to see the familiar face. "...you were calling me..." His eyes tiredly took in the room around him and some of the happiness ebbed. He was in a hospital. That fact woke him up faster than any shot of espresso ever could. He must have scrunched up his face in trying to recall what had brought him here because Jim was quick to calm his worries.

"You're all right. You've just got a concussion. They found us in the restroom back at the station. You were out cold and I had a few lacerations on my hand but everything is fine now...Do you remember what happened Blair? I've tried but my mind wont cooperate."

Blair's heart started to pound in his chest as Jim's recounting jogged his memory. 'The men's room...' his right hand went up to feel the back of his head and examine the damage that was done there when the weight of the appendage startled him. He looked down at his right arm to find a lovely white cast running from his palm up to his elbow. 'Well that's new.' "I have a cast." Out of the corner of his eye he saw Jim nod, a blush creeping up his neck to ruddy his cheeks. Shaken by such an unexpected difference in his appearance he glanced down at his body, "So, not my clothes... bad enough to warrant a hospital gown too." He stilled his hectic thoughts hoping the calm would translate to his heart rate too. There'd be no benefit to worrying his sentinel any more than he already was. His throat was dry and his voice raspy from disuse. He needed to lighten the mood with a joke, "Alzheimer's kickin in already gramps?" He watched Jim roll his eyes and pull his own hand away before the temptation to smack him in the head became too great.

'I wont be distracted that easily, Blair.' But still Jim's heart jumped with joy at the teasing tone of his friend. Sometimes he envied Sandburg's optimism in the face of adversity. If it their roles were reversed he doubted he'd be anywhere near as jovial. He had the tendency to mimic an injured lion when he was out of control of his surroundings. "You want some water or ice chips, kid?"

Blair nodded his head in gratitude, "Water, please." Jim agreed, seeing the trouble he was having swallowing. His friend spun his head around and requested water from someone out of sight and then turned his attention back to him with the intention of getting back to the point at hand. 'Like a dog with a bone...'

"Do you remember what happened?" Ellison asked.

Sandburg was farsighted and had been for as long as he could recall. So he had to force his eyes to squint to see the face so near to him that he knew better than any other aside from his own. There didn't appear to be any of the man's normal signs of guilt displayed on his face, not even feebly masked guilt. 'He really doesn't remember...' that realization bolstered his confidence and renewed his conviction. Before he'd plunged into the temple in his vision he'd come to a very hard decision. He wasn't going to give Jim up, not even though he still maintained doubts as to his own abilities but most definitely not under coercion by some other desperate Sentinel. Still, in order to do that and also fight for the life of his mentor and mother he'd need his friend's help and understanding. This would require divulging some information to the detective, he only hoped not all. Jim was looking at him hungry for the knowledge of what took place back in the restroom, what the detective himself couldn't recall. It'd be so much easier for the two of them if he could maintain the Sentinel's ignorance over what took place. 'Maybe if I just stall for some time I can work out how to tell him what he needs to know without giving away too much of what happened...' Blair decided to dodge the question for now. He looked away from Jim, sitting up a little in the bed and craning his neck to look over the detective hovering beside him to the tall dark figure just walking up. "Hey Simon, nice to see you."

Jim frowned seeing through Blair's evasion. He was about to push the point when a small plastic cup was brought into his field of vision. "Thanks, Simon." He took the drink and passed it to Sandburg who began gulping it greedily, "Slow it down, guppy. Let's not add choking to the chart, Kay?" He pushed the hands holding the cup down to slow the flow of water.

"You had us worried there. Its nice to have you with us again. How're you feeling, Sandburg?" The Major Crimes Captain stood behind Jim gazing down at his police observer.

"-been better," he muttered. "Jim? Help me out man. Can you arrange these pillows so I'm not doing crunches trying to drink?" The head of the bed began lifting and within a minute the bed was upright and so was he without straining himself. "Aah...nothing like a little room service to make a guy feel loved. Pull up a chair Simon." Any hope that he might find a way to delay the conversation about his attack by chatting it up with the police Captain flew out the window with the look Simon directed at him. Blair's eyes darted nervously between Simon and Jim for a moment. Evading the issue of what happened back at the station had just become twice as difficult with the arrival of the police Captain.

"So Sandburg since you seem to be doing so well now, why don't you share what went down back at the station?"

Blair resumed gratefully guzzling his water rather than answer Jim's boss. Drinking would buy him a few precious extra seconds of time to formulate a plan against these two detectives in his midst.

"How long you planning on milking that puny glass of water, Chief?"

Blair watched them watching him, forgot to breathe while drinking and then started choking as the fluid traveled down the wrong pipe. It was at that precise moment the Doctor chose to walk in. 'Oh thank you lord!' He didn't even bother hiding his smile at being rescued from the third degree his two friends were coordinating. He cast a pleading look at the physician communicating his predicament with expressive blue eyes.

Dr. Falon smiled cordially at the two men standing guard over his patient's bed and with an air of practiced ease held the door open behind him ordering the two policemen out. "Well gentleman it seems my patient is awake and able to function on his own well enough. So, I will have to ask you to leave for the time being while I examine Mr. Sandburg and bring him up to speed on his condition." It was almost comical to see the twin looks of stunned disbelief directed his way.

"What?" Jim asked thinking the comment had been directed solely at Banks. He felt Simon tugging at his arm to get him to stand from his seat, but he wasn't about to admit defeat quite as easily. 'No way. I just got in here!'

Falon graciously bowed indicating the exit he was holding open for them. "If you both will, sirs. I'm sure you can satisfy your innate need to guard Mr. Sandburg from outside his room."

"No!" Jim yanked his arm out of the big man's grasp stepping closer to Sandburg's bed. "How come he always gets to stay while I'm being examined?!" He winced as he realized the question was posed with more than a little amount of petulance.

"Come on, Jim. The doctor said both of us. Let's not give him a hard time."

"But-" He looked over at Blair while directing his comment to Dr. Falon. "I can stay with Blair's permission, right?" The hope he clung to was squashed like a bug with one look at his partner's reaction to the question. It felt like a sucker punch to his gut. 'What could he possibly want to discuss without me around?'

The pleading stare was not lost on Blair however he still shook his head guiltily, "Sorry man. I'll have Falon let you back in soon, I promise." He saw the hurt look flash across Jim's face before he hid all his emotions to slip on the ever-present defensive mask of stoicism. He reached out to grab at Jim's arm as he stood back as though he'd been struck. "Don't be that way man. I'm just asking for a couple of minutes."

Ellison had been so worried...he'd worked so hard to get to be by Sandburg's side and for what? All to have the kid chase him out in order to avoid discussing further incriminating acts by his other walking holy grail?! It hurt more than Jim wanted to admit. If there was one thing the detective hated it was being vulnerable, and he was always that where Blair was concerned. Throwing up the emotional barriers he used to protect himself, he fumed over the offense. 'He wouldn't have even woken up if it weren't for me!' He pulled his arm out of reach. "Have your privacy, Sandburg...No skin off my nose," he growled smoothing out his hospital scrubs. Then enacting a cool air of indifference he strode past Falon, out of the room and down into the hall.

Blair let his hand fall to the bed in defeat, bowing his head in shame. He hadn't meant to hurt Jim. 'I just wanted a little more time to figure out what to do, what to say!'

Simon was torn. He moved to head after Jim but paused at the doorway turning around to face the kid in the bed. "Listen Sandburg, give him some time to cool off. He came into the hospital and was separated from you for hours. I think he's just mad at being run out." He was pretty sure he could understand why Sandburg wanted some time alone to think and that the kid hadn't meant to hurt Ellison but he was also aware of how hard it was for Jim to open himself up as much as he did around the civilian. His lead detective did not handle rejection of any kind well. "Take a minute to gather your thoughts but don't be mistaken Sandburg, when I get back I am taking down your statement."

More than anything, Sandburg wished his body hadn't betrayed his reaction to that assertion. 'Oh god! Simon is going to find out.' Because even though he maintained a look of confused innocence you'd have to be an idiot not to notice the monitors attached to his body recording the truth.

Simon watched the ECG monitor displaying the increase in heart rate and felt his own heart clench in sympathy. 'So this is what it's like for Jim to read people with his senses,' he thought in wonder understanding the signs of a nervous and fearful person. "I already had a feeling it was him kid..." He honestly revealed patting the door a few times. "No matter what happens we're here for you, Sandburg."

"I don't know what you're talking about...but thanks." Blair watched Simon push his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. He wondered whether or not the man would challenge him but instead Banks chose to slap the door once more then nod goodbye to the doctor and walk out. With the exit of his two friends Blair allowed his body to collapse back against the pillow, casting his gaze up to the ceiling. 'Phew...How in the world am I going to get us out of this one?' There was a dull headache forming right behind his eyes and he had a feeling it was because of the stress and anxiety of the day.

"We couldn't give you any painkillers until you woke up. If you want I can have the nurse bring you something?" Dr. Falon watched his patient startle in the bed. He'd been forgotten in the heat of the moment apparently. 'Only with these two...' he smiled wistfully.

"Sorry, Trace. Lost in thought. That'd be great. I can tell my head wants me to forget my normal herbal remedies and pull out the big guns it'd seem." Blair tried to raise his left arm but had to stop short as he inadvertently pulled on his IV line. Instead he raised his right arm to cover over his eyes having to force himself to do so slowly or risk smacking himself with the hardened cast. He could feel the physician working around him then settling into the chair Jim vacated.

Dr. Tracy Falon snagged the phone off the side table and called the nurses desk to place the order, then turned his attention back to his patient. He pulled out his penlight and leaned forward beginning his examination. The one benefit to the regularity with which he saw Sandburg and Ellison was that they were familiar with his routine and bedside manner. So feeling comfortable he began talking as he checked the young man over. "I don't think I need to waste my time telling you what damage you sustained as I am sure you remember well enough. I will say though that the laceration to the back of your head received six stitches and no we didn't have to shave your hair. You have Nurse Riley to thank for that. She worked extra hard to clean the wound and keep those bouncy curls clear of any stitches."

"awe...I'm going to have to give her a big kiss for that."

Falon rolled his eyes, "No playing favorites the others will blame me and turn." He stood up lifting the cast to examine how it was hardening, "The wrist we took care of, obviously, hairline fracture by the way. Your back is going to feel like you let demonic toddlers go to town on it with rubber mallets so I strongly advise you to apply cold presses, limit your activity, and keep up a steady dose of anti-inflammatories."

Throughout the monologue Sandburg nodded his head to indicate he was paying attention and would comply. He was free to relax under the medical man's ministrations. He trusted Tracy. They had formed quite a rapport over the last year working in harmony to treat Jim while taking into account his sensitivities. He took advantage of the reprieve of being expected to respond by mentally working on what he would divulge to his other two friends when they returned.

Falon worked on getting Blair comfortable and distracted. "I am going to have a you lean forward and with my support we'll rotate your neck. What I want from you is to tell me if anything feels strained, especially if you feel pins and needles in your mid-back or neck. Understand?" Easing the brunette forward away from the pillows he position his hands on either side of his head and slowly guided him in turning his head. "Turn left...that's good...any pain?"

"No. Feels fine."

Falon smiled, "Good. Now turn right. Slowly... that's far enough...now how about there?"

"Nope, still good."

"Great." The doctor pulled his hands away to replace them one on Sandburg's forehead and the other at the base of his head. "Okay now I want you to look down tucking your chin into your chest...that's right... Feeling anything uncomfortable now?"

"Nothing..." Blair closed his eyes and started to take deep cleansing breaths as the doctor continued his exam. So much had taken place today it left him feeling overwhelmed. His thoughts were firing at lightning speed. 'Might as well meditate a little to center myself while I have the chance,' he mused.

"Fine, now let's do the opposite. Only this time be careful cause I'm not going to support the back of your head so I don't aggravate the stitches...Just look at the ceiling...I'm not asking for Chinese contortions here...Good...everything still feeling all right?" Falon received a small nod.

"Stretching feels good actually..." Sandburg cracked an eye open to look into hazel eyes studying him. "Am I good to go? Feeling a bit drafty here," he asked indicating his gown. "Plus I really want to free this arm up, now that it seems it's my only good arm for the next couple weeks."

Falon smiled "We're almost done here. I just want to examine the bruises on your back before we wrap things up and I send you packing. You know...with the normal disclaimers: Your concussed so no running after bad guys or rough housing with Jim's coworkers. Otherwise I won't be responsible for any worsening in symptoms you might experience..." He pulled the gown apart further to gain greater access to the bruises along the young mans back. "Fair warning: cold hands." He gave a low whistle chuckling softly. "They're even darker than when you first came in here." He started to palpate the worst of the areas around the shoulder blades, "They look like black and blue wings back here." As hoped for he heard a small answering chuckle. "You know I've been contemplating a frequent flyer type deal where you and Jim are concerned since you two are in here so often." The chuckle grew so Falon pushed farther. "I was thinking every four concussions you get your fifth one free. A complimentary stay in one of my lovely suites for free, all medical expenses paid for, obviously.

Blair snorted, "Obviously."

"You think Ellison would be insulted if I were to suggest it? Oh, wait! I know. We'd make the meals Wonder Burger and all-you-can-eat during your fifth stay." Falon watched as his patient started laughing so hard he began to gasp. "Jim would go for that wouldn't he?"

"Oh god, Trace, forget the doctor shtick you need to go into comedy!" Blair swiped at the tears in the corners of his eyes as he waited for the doctor to finish. "You can't suggest that! He'll exercise even less caution when he's in the field just for the food alone. Stinking burgers are gonna clog up his arteries as it is if he has his way." He watched as Falon pulled a small tube from his pocket twisted the cap off and began to apply some to his palm. He quirked an eyebrow in curiosity.

Falon rubbed the cream with very gentle care onto the vivid bruising. "I am taking pity on you Blair and applying a topical anesthetic that will relieve some of the discomfort for the next twelve hours. I'll send some home with you two. Jim will need gloves to apply it to you though." As he removed his hand to apply some more cream for the next half of Blair back he shook his head. "Sheesh Blair, next time you should tell Jim to find a softer surface to slam you against. Like a mattress or hay bale. I don't know...anything else would do less damage."

Blair scoffed in frustration, "Yeah, well, you try telling the big Oaf that when he's clearly having some kind of whacked out reac-" Sandburg froze realizing what he'd divulged. He felt heat rise to his face. He was angry with himself for betraying Jim's confidence and angry that the Physician had manipulated his trust to his own means. "You tricked me. That's not fair, Trace." He hung his head as Falon closed up the back of his gown and stepped back giving him some space to vent.

"Oh really? Would you have told me if I hadn't? Would you have told anyone?! I'm no idiot Blair I heard what you said to Banks. You had no intention of telling him what happened." Falon walked over to the small sink in the room flipped the faucet on and began washing the residue off his hands.

"You don't understand what's going on. He was exposed to something and had a violent reaction. I'm pissed as hell it happened but blaming him and getting him in trouble with IA isn't going to help either of us!" Sandburg was panicked; privacy was hard won with a Sentinel around. He was betting more on the fact that Jim's wounded pride had sent him off stalking, far out of earshot, or better yet too angry to think to focus in on him. He threw the sheets off his torso and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He had to be careful how he maneuvered so his lines wouldn't tangle or pull out.

Dr. Falon hurriedly threw the towel he used to dry his hands into the waste bin and rushed to stop Blair from injuring his self or the equipment he was attached to. "Calm down. Have I even called Banks yet? I didn't mean to set you off. I'm sorry. I just had to know if there was something I missed when I was examining you two or if this really was the type of case I hate."

Blair couldn't maintain his indignation in the face of Falon's genuine concern. "There's a man, well psycho really, targeting us and Jim is the only one able to track this guy, Tracy. I just know it. He's poisoned him once and threatened to harm others please...please, don't tell Simon. I know this is a crime meaning patient confidentiality is different but I need Jim on this case and at his best. He's already stressed enough as it is. The guilt he'll have if he finds out he did this to me will not help, just the opposite." He laid everything out on the line for the doctor. Well, as best as he could while twisting the facts to keep Jim's senses a secret. Now as he sat on the edge of the bed mentally kicking himself for getting into these types of situations all he could do was hope that the trust he'd placed in the man before him was well founded.

"You say he was poisoned? How come we picked nothing up in our blood tests." Falon crossed his arms over his chest willing to give Sandburg the benefit of the doubt but not allow himself to be taken completely in. He was no fool to the talents the student was possessed of when it came to talking his way out of trouble.

"You drew blood." Blair's eyes widened and he nodded his head, it wasn't a question just a resigned statement of the facts. 'Of course he would, I practically always demand that he do so every time Jim is admitted. Okay damage control time...'

The doctor stepped forward and began removing some of the electrodes and instruments attached to Sandburg's body. It was pointless trying to monitor Blair past this point, as his nervous energy would just continue to rise until he was either discharged or kicked out of the hospital. "Ellison suffered several deep lacerations to his hand, Blair. I wasn't about to let him out of here until I was sure an infection hadn't set up shop." When he finished that task he busied himself with pulling out a prescription pad from his pocket and writing up a slip for the medicated salve that would help with the bruises. The entire time he let the Police Observer continue to explain the situation to him.

"Trace you know Jim's sensitive. It wasn't so much a poison per se as it was him reacting to something as such. That's also one of the reason's he doesn't remember what happened. He honestly can't! Whatever he was exposed to messed up his mind so much he didn't know what he was doing. You more than anyone can attest to how bizarre his reactions can be to even the smallest things! Please just believe me." Blair accepted the prescription with his cast-encased hand, grateful that his fingers at least were exposed granting him limited usefulness of his right hand. "Isn't this thing a bit of overkill for a hairline fracture?"

"Seriously?" Falon guffawed, " This is you we're talking about...preventative measures, Mr. Sandburg..." There was a knock at the door before a nurse walked inside. He saw her glance at his patient's exposed backside then grin with mischievous delight. Tracy rolled his eyes and prayed for long suffering. He snagged hold of Blair's left arm and with practiced ease removed the IV catheter firmly pressing gauze to the spot to staunch any blood flow. He taped the gauze down and tossed the needle into the medical waste container.

"Here you go Dr. Falon...If that will be all?" A blonde nurse in a Nyan Cat scrub walked over to hand the doctor a small cup with several pills in it. Falon shook his head no and then watched her wink at Blair before turning to leave.

"Was that nurse Riley?" Blair asked wagging his eyebrows suggestively as he accepted the medicine Falon pushed into his hand. He dry swallowed the medicine hoping they would kick in quickly. He didn't expect the doctor's snort or for him to violently shake his head no. When the nurse left the room and they were alone again Blair became serous once more. "So what are you going to tell them?"

Falon walked away to the foot of the bed. He snatched up the medical chart pulled out his funky pen and began jotting several notes down. "I'll have the nurse come in with your discharge papers as soon as you're dressed." He tapped his pen against the clipboard mentally distracted with the question posed him. "As for divulging any of what you told me to Simon...I'll leave that up to you." He shrugged his shoulders finally before pinning Blair with a searching stare. "I'm trusting you to recognize the difference between what you've disclosed to me and domestic abuse, Blair. If this should look like it's shifting from the realm of odd reactions to everyday occurrences I hope you're smart enough to know how to seek help."

Now that he was free to move about the room, Blair hopped out of the bed clutching the gown at his backside closed with his left hand. "So I can get dressed and leave then?" It was obvious to Sandburg that Dr. Falon didn't appreciate him dismissing his advice so flippantly, but it didn't faze Blair too much. He was itching to get out of there and figure out a way to save Eli and his friendship with Jim.

"Yes, you can get dressed now." Falon walked over to the small cabinet that housed the sink and bent over to pull out the bag of personal effects the nurses normally stashed there. "Hmmm...Well it seems your belongings might've been misplaced somewhere along the line." He straightened back up tucking the clipboard under his arm doing a slow circuit of the room just to make sure his patient's clothes hadn't been placed elsewhere. When it became abundantly clear they were gone he scratched his head and headed toward the door. "Would you like me to inform Captain Banks and Detective Ellison that they can visit with you now? Hey...That's a thought, Banks! He was with you when you arrived, maybe he knows where your stuff snuck off to."

Sandburg groaned he didn't want to wait for his possessions but then the idea of leaving in a hospital gown wasn't very appealing either. He climbed back under the sheets of his bed with some difficulty having to use his left hand to arrange everything. "I guess I'll just stay here until my stuff is found...Wait, what about my back pack? I usually keep an extra set of clothes in there."

"If it came in with Banks or the paramedics it's not here now. I'll track him down and ask. More than likely they're right outside the door." The doctor stuck his head out the door searching for the two men. "Well so much for that idea. I guess they went down to the cafeteria." He turned back to look at his patient moping in the bed and laughed. "Don't worry Blair, it was crazy but my people are good. They always tag the bag with the patient's information. It'll turn up. Worst comes to worst and we'll give you some scrubs to go home in until we locate your things." Then he walked out to continue his rounds leaving his patient lost in thought alone in the room.

Blair ticked off his fingers mentally cataloging all his belongings he'd been wearing. For the most part his clothes he could part with but some of his tribal necklaces he would really miss. 'They must've removed my jewelry for some of the tests,' he thought absently rubbing at his bare pierced ears. He groaned as he thought of the new sneakers he had just bought. 'I just had to wear them today...' Then his eyes widened as he recalled the brand new silver band his mom got him. Quickly he flexed his right arm to look down the cast but he couldn't see it or feel it. He thumped his good fist against the bed in aggravation.

"That bracelet..." Something nagged Blair about that piece of jewelry. He'd passed out right after putting it on, hadn't he? In all the hubbub over his bruised wrist he'd completely forgot about how peculiar it was that he did that. He closed his eyes and tried to picture the silver band and the markings he'd been stroking. His eyes blinked open as he growled; the image danced just beyond his reach, taunting him with its hidden significance. He had the feeling it was somehow to blame for his passing out. But that was absurd, wasn't it? How could a bracelet render a person unconscious? He knew the idea was ridiculous, but for some reason his mind didn't want to let it go. 'Naomi sent the gift though.' His mother's message on the answering machine popped up into his memory. 'Actually didn't she mention some friend helped her with the gift? Come on, Blair, think!' He tried to puzzle piece together the fragments of information he had, but thinking too hard made his brain hurt. When was that headache medicine going to kick in? '...her friend reminded her of Jim?... '

Blair yawned as he tired to focus his thoughts. "I should call her..." It felt like the answer was staring him in the face. 'I should have read mom's letter,' he groaned, but even the letter was in his backpack...his missing backpack. 'Where did I leave my pack last?' he wondered. 'Oh...the restroom.' He sank a little further into the bed's fluffy pillows thinking about his mother and her friend, the bracelet, his pack and the fact that his thoughts seemed to be jumping all over the place a lot without ever really settling. Sandburg rubbed his face with his left hand then let his hand drop back to the bed with a heavy thump. He stared at the limb with a dumb look. "I need to call Mom and ask her what, I mean who-" he swallowed heavily, his tongue seemed to be stuck to his palate, "or the station...my pack could still be there..." His limbs felt really heavy and hard to coordinate as he rolled over sitting up to reach for the phone beside his bed. He lifted the heavy receiver from its cradle and slowly dialed the only number he seemed able to remember. He marveled that the headache medicine, once it finally kicked in, packed quite the wallop.

["This is Inspector Megan Connor. Who's speaking?"]

Blair frowned; he thought he'd dialed Jim's desk number. 'Where is Jim anyway?'

"Um...Megan?"

["Crikey! Blair? You sound horrible mate. Why you calling me, Sandy? Aren't you supposed to be resting?"]

It was getting harder to focus. Sandburg gripped the phone as hard as he could to keep it from falling from his nerveless fingers. "My pack...Did I leave it... there?" The room around him was beginning to swim in and out of focus making him feel sick. He sucked in a shaky deep breath. This medicine was perhaps too strong.

"Didn't Jim and the Cap tell you? They think Peterson was run off the road while bringing Jim's truck and your backpack to the hospital. The truck was a bloody fireball when the crews responded. The boys were called out to head the scene and check it for clues. They didn't tell you?"

"... kicked 'im outta th'room..." The sound of the hospital door behind him opening and shutting quietly made Sandburg think they'd found his clothes at last. He clenched his eyes shut mourning the loss of the officer, his best friend's truck, and his backpack as well as its contents. He felt his hand holding the phone fall into his lap limply. He could hear Megan's small voice drifting up from the speaker in the handset.

["Sandy? Rest Mate. They should be back soon...Sandy?"]

Sandburg could feel his body beginning to lean forward. The thought sprang into his mind that if he didn't catch himself soon he'd pitch forward onto the floor. Before it happened he felt someone catch his body, laying him back against the pillows. "thanks..." He needed to tell this person the medicine given him was wrong or too strong, that he was passing out but his lips wouldn't move. The Anthropologist felt his eyelids opened and a bright light shone into them. 'Thank god!' he thought, 'They can tell something is wrong.' He wanted to flinch away from the painful light but his body had stopped responding to any commands beyond breathing. The phone was gently removed from his listless fingers. When the bright spots in his vision cleared he could just make out the blurry image of a tall figure with dark hair in a long white doctor's coat. 'That's not Dr. Falon.' The stranger lifted the phone to his head.

"Sorry, Miss, but Mr. Sandburg seems to have succumb to his exhaustion. You will need to call back later to finish speaking with him. Now, I need to see to my patient." Dr. Andrew Cooper's disguise allowed him to gain access into the young man's room never once making the officer's suspect him of anything. Even Sandburg had remained oblivious while he helped the student back onto the bed, but now that he'd spoken he could hear the frantic racing heartbeat of the patient in the bed. 'So he recognizes my voice...good.' His smile could only be described as predatory as he spoke politely with the woman on the phone while looking down at the paralyzed guide on the bed. Sandburg might not be able to move but his eyes had widen with the realization of who was in the room with him and Andrew could read a million and one thoughts being communicated through those expressive blue orbs.

["Oh fine. Well make sure he knows his friends will be back soon, please. "]

"Oh I promise. Good day, Miss." Cooper never broke eye contact with Blair as he hung up the phone and leaned down over the young man. He knew the medicine he'd swapped in place of the ibuprofen Sandburg was supposed to ingest could make visual focusing difficult and what he was about to say he wanted the young to see as well as hear.

Blair felt the bed beneath his body dip as Cooper in his altered appearance leaned down into his field of vision. His heart was racing in his ears and his breaths were ragged. 'Jim!' Out of all the times for the man to choose to cave, back down and leave his side this had to be the worst. He took in the tanned face that had once been pale and the dyed hair masking his true hair color. Gone were the green eyes, disguised with brown contact lenses. Only the British Doctor's voice was the same. If he was kidnapped there would be no tracking this guy down he realized.

"I told you I would have your help with or with out your permission..."

Blair felt the prick of a needle in his bicep, thought: 'This can't be happening again...' and then his world faded to black.


	17. Chapter 17

"So let me get this straight..." Simon said with a calmness that belied his true inner fury. The tall black Captain had one hand fiercely clutching his hip while the other massaged his brow. "While we were here Sandburg for several hours was guarded and safely confined to this hospital room..." He stalked around the two officers, "but in the thirty minutes it took for Ellison and I to dash out, check a crime scene and return you two managed to lose him? Am I getting this right?" Simon's voice dropped by several decibels to a deadly whisper as he tried to maintain control of his temper. "He just up and walked away?" His hands twirled magically in the air as he gestured.

The two officers stood stiffly at attention before Banks darting nervous glances at each other before nodding in response, their gaze never shifting from the entirely too quiet figure lurking at the Captain's back.

Officer Taylor's normally white face was unusually pallid under the Captain's intense scrutiny. It was clear to him the man was upset with him and his partner. He didn't see what the big deal was though, so he foolishly spoke up ignoring his partner's elbow jabbing repeatedly at his side. "That's what we believe, sir. Blair was being discharged... We figured he just took off. Besides everyone knows the kid hates hospitals. " He looked to his fellow officer beside him for support, but frowned when he saw the Latino back up a step with his palms out. His partner's body language was clearly projecting: 'Leave me out of this.' Finding no help there he spun back around to face Banks. "I mean one minute he's talking to the doctor about getting his clothes and the next he was gone. What were we supposed to think?"

Simon did lose it then, "Maybe, and this is just an idea," he ground out, "maybe you should've recalled that I gave you specific orders to guard the room and its occupant! To keep Blair here until we returned!"

"We WERE guarding him...while he was here...but he left by the time we came back."

Simon watched Mendez groan in disbelief when he heard his partner divulge that they had left off from guarding the hospital room for a period of time. If it had been under any other circumstances Simon would've thought the situation funny, maybe even down right hilarious. But this was his Police Consultant's life on the line and he wasn't laughing. He could see Officer Mendez slowly backing closer to the exit trying to put as much distance between himself and Taylor who was slowly wrapping the hypothetical noose around his own neck.

"When you came back..." Simon's face had an enlightened look about it. He nodded his head a few times before his voice erupted, the veins bulging on his neck and temple. "And where in the world were you two?! What possible excuse could you have for disregarding my orders to stay here until Ellison and I returned?!"

The rational part of Miguel Mendez's brain told him the Captain was venting, and though sincerely pissed off, they were in no serious danger from him. The irrational fear of retaliation from the individual behind the Captain however, was making it hard for him to pay attention to the rational voice in his brain. Every instinct in him was shouting to run and hide.

Taking advantage of the Captain's tirade directed at his partner, Mendez tried to inch closer to the hospital door behind him. He'd been on the force long enough to know messing with Detective Ellison's partner was a death wish, so was failing to protect the Police Observer. He unlike Taylor before him, had a pretty good feeling they had royally screwed up and that something had happened to Sandburg. He'd almost reached his means of egress when his partner was asked the question he knew would seal their doom. "Taylor, quit while your ahead man!" He hissed the warning one last futile time. He couldn't believe his partner was still trying to dismiss as not their fault what happened after the two Senior Officer's left the hospital. 'Why did I leave to use the restroom? Or accept that horrible coffee in the first place? None of this would have happened if I had just held off for another hour. I'd be on break enjoying un pedazo de pan con queso. Y un poco de pasta guave tambien...Mmmm.' The Hispanic was so lost in thought he jumped when he hear Banks call out his name. "¿Que? Ummm, What? What was that, sir?"

"I said you've been awfully quiet Mendez. Why don't you give me the full recap of everything that occurred while Ellison and I were gone." Banks was glowering at the Spanish officer who as of yet had been trying to fade into the background. He had a feeling this man's sense of self preservation would compel him to be more forth coming than his partner had about what took place. He watched the addressed officer stand tall and begin to tell his account.

Mendez took a deep breath watching as Ellison turned around from his vantage point at the large window to stare at him while he spoke. 'Make it quick and then you can get it over with,' he told himself. "Shortly after you and Detective Ellison left, Sir, a nurse came in to give Dr. Falon some medicine for Sandburg; she also brought Taylor and I some coffee. She left right after. Soon Sandburg and the good doctor finished talking. Next thing Falon is peeking his head out in search of you two I think. He didn't say what it was he was looking for but after he didn't find it he left. A few minutes later I had to use the restroom. So I left Taylor to guard the door while I headed off in search of the facilities. You know, the ones just behind the nurses station. I was in there no more than a minute before Taylor bursts into the stall next to mine saying he couldn't wait either. I ask who's with Sandburg and he says to me a Doctor volunteered to keep an eye on the kid while we were gone. Dr. Janus I think he said. Both of us were pretty indisposed in there, sir. We must have been gone ten minutes, fifteen tops, but by the time we returned Blair was gone. We asked around but nobody seemed to know where he went. Then you arrived, sir."

Jim burst forward planting himself next to Simon. "I knew it! Sandburg didn't leave, he was kidnapped Simon. I bet these guys got slipped something in the coffee. Probably some diuretic to get them out of the way." The relief in his voice was obvious to all in the room.

When Jim first got back to the hospital room with Simon, Officer Taylor had been quick to inform them of Blair flying the coop. To say the man hadn't handled the news well would be a gross understatement. To Jim it was further proof of Blair's inability to condemn Cooper's actions and of the feared hold the physician exerted over his best friend. For a few moments he'd even angrily entertained the thought that Sandburg had willingly left to go meet the other Sentinel. But Mendez's recounting gave him hope. The arms that he'd wrapped protectively around himself upon learning of Blair's escape came down to fist at his sides in anger. 'How much time have I been wasting being pissed at the kid while he's probably been scared out of his mind?'

Simon had to agree the likelihood that both officers had felt the overwhelming urge to use the restroom at the same time was definitely suspicious. "It's certainly possible, Jim."

Ellison whipped his head around to look at the two officers standing a couple feet away. There was a predatory gleam in his eye that made the men take an unconscious step back. He advanced on them, "I want to know the name of the nurse who gave you the coffee and then I want her brought to me," he growled as he closed the distance between them, "I want a description of this so called good Samaritan Doctor along with any footage the hospital's security cameras may have captured of the activity on this floor for the last hour and all footage of the parking lots and exits and entrances." Both men nodded, looked between themselves and then silently agreed Mendez would go in search of the nurse while Taylor would remain behind giving the description of the doctor.

Simon sat on the edge of the bed allowing Jim the pleasure of making the junior officer sweat. Personally he needed the time to think. He hated that he hoped Ellison was right, hated hoping that Sandburg was kidnapped rather than simply having walked out on them. It was selfish wanting the kid to stay especially in light of the very real possibility that Jim had attacked Blair. Still he was willing to live with the guilt knowing Jim was a better person when Blair was around. In fact all his detectives were better off for the young man's presence. Even his own relationship with his son was stabilizing because of the influence Blair had exerted on Daryl.

All these benefits, though, couldn't keep Banks from feeling horrible if Jim was right about the kidnapping, because if that was the case then Peterson's accident had been a distraction to pull them from Sandburg's side and they had fallen for it far too easily. When they'd reached the crash site it never occurred to them that the young officer being run off the road might be anything more than a simple accident. He felt guilty enough at having been the one to instruct him to drive Jim's truck to the hospital, but the idea that Peterson might lose his life because of being used as a pawn in some psycho's scheme to get to Blair made him feel sick. The humiliation of the deception was worsened by the fact that Jim was so offended he'd jumped at the chance to go to the crime scene rather than stay behind and work through things with Sandburg. Simon had tried to push the issue, suggesting Jim stay behind when he got the call to go to the accident, but when Jim insisted they just needed space Banks gave in. Ellison convinced him he'd be more useful at the accident site alongside the Captain. Jim's wounded pride allowed him to be dismissed from Sandburg's vicinity altogether, rather than staying behind to guard the vulnerable student in whatever capacity he could. Because he hadn't put his foot down Banks felt the weight of guilt bearing down on his shoulders. 'I should've made Jim stay behind.'

So off they ran leaving Blair in the hands of the two officers while Simon and Jim arrived just in time to see the firemen hosing down the last of the engine flames. Most of the cab was a loss as a result of the fire. Before settling at the bottom of the culvert in a ball of flames the truck had flipped multiple times. Jim had found Sandburg's backpack thrown several hundred feet away from the wreckage when the windows were blown out. The Captain considered it a small mercy that the paramedics said Peterson being thrown from the truck as well had probably saved the man's life. The officer was in surgery with the doctors right now on another floor of this very same hospital, they were struggling to repair his shattered femur. Even if they succeeded it was doubtful the young man would ever regain full strength in the limb again. Being deprived of your career choice before you'd ever really had a chance to make a difference would be a bitter pill for the young man to swallow. Both he and Jim had returned with little more than the salvaged backpack in tow from Jim's charred truck. 'And now this...' Simon shook his head to dispel his gloomy thoughts. Once they arrived Jim found Blair gone and like normal the detective immediately thought the worst. Simon had been alarmed to see the range of heated emotions Jim directed at the young observer in his absence. Thinking of his star Detective Simon couldn't remember a time Jim had behaved as volatile. He had to wonder if Jim was right and the man was simply strung tight from a month of holding his breath waiting for Andrew to make his move against them. 'Too much craziness...' When the Captain focused back on the here and now Taylor was walking out the door and Jim was just getting off his cell turning to talk to him. "What did I miss? I was lost in thought for a moment?" Simon asked.

Jim's one arm curled around his chest as he used his hand to stroke across his eyebrow while talking. "Taylor says the guy spoke with a British accent but didn't fit Cooper's description beyond that and being tall. Seems this guy had black hair and brown eyes. Even his skin color was darker. It doesn't mean much though, we both know he could've dyed his hair and acquired some color contact lenses, so unless proven otherwise I still think it was Cooper. As a doctor he would know a discreet way to get Mendez and Taylor out of the way without raising any alarms. He went through a lot to not be recognized Simon."

"It appears that way... What I don't get is how come the kid didn't resist? Sandburg's smart he would've seen through the disguise. I mean look at this room nothing is out of place. Anytime someone makes a grab for the kid he turns into a wolverine, tearing up the place fighting his captors. Remember Lash?"

Jim cringed, "I try not to, Sir... But this is different since Cooper's got Eli; like you said he could've used that as leverage. Then there's the other possibility...maybe he drugged Blair. If Cooper could slip something into the coffees he could easily switch out the meds the nurse brought too." Jim felt every muscle in his body twitch with the need to lash out in anger at the man who'd taken his Guide. "But that isn't what really bugs me though, Simon." Jim glanced around the room making sniffing sounds. He shook his head. "I can't smell Cooper here. I can't tell if he was ever here or not." He began pacing the room, slicing his hand through the air as his mind worked, "Now back at the station I could easily pick up his scent, but here...zilch. How could he get Blair out of here without leaving me a scent marker? We must've missed each other by minutes, tops. I don't get it, it's not like they aren't working. I can smell everything you had for lunch and breakfast not to mention the fact that you've changed your deodorant recently. So I know that they're working. What am I missing?"

Simon groaned yet again uncomfortable discussing things out of the realm of plausible. "Aww, Jim don't ask me. I'm not the kid; I haven't got a clue."

The door to the hospital room opened and a petite blonde clutching a large white plastic bag was escorted inside by Mendez. He guided her to the seat by the hospital bedside. Once she sat herself down comfortably he turned to Banks and Ellison, "This is Miss. Julie Buxom. Julie this is Captain Banks and Detective Ellison. They are going to ask you a few questions. I'll be just outside the door." Mendez nodded at his superiors then left them to their interrogation.

"Hello Julie, first we want to assure you that any information you give us will be used strictly for the purposes of this investigation. No one here wants to get you in trouble with your supervisors." Jim and Simon greeted the nervous nurse and the words were clearly what she needed to hear as her shoulders instantly sagged in relief. Ellison was about to open his mouth to begin asking about the suspicious doctor when he frowned. Blair's smell was wafting up to him from the woman's direction but so was another familiar, fairly strong and oh so hated scent. Jim sat on the edge of the hospital bed to seem the least intimidating as possible and to mask the fine tremors coursing through his body in response to signs of Andrew Cooper's presence. "Nurse Buxom may I ask what your clutching so tightly in the bag?"

That was clearly not the first question she expected the detectives to ask, causing her response to be her blinking owlishly up at them. "What?"

Jim pointed at the bag. He was getting that itchy feeling at the base of his skull again.

"Oh this! Mr. Sandburg's belongings were found in a custodial closet a few minutes ago. I thought that I'd bring them to your officers." The small woman thrust the bag out towards the two men eager to relinquish her burden.

Simon gave Jim an odd look when the detective made no move to take Blair's things from the woman. Rather than bring it up now he made a mental note to question Jim later and instead took the belongings himself. "Thank you, Miss Buxom."

"I can show you where they were found if you need..." The blonde nurse let her hands drop back into her lap. "Listen I know for a fact when Mr. Sandburg was brought in for his scans and dressed in his hospital gown the nurses labeled his bag of belongings and sent it to the room ahead of Captain Banks and the patient. I placed it in that cabinet over there myself while we readied this room. I don't know how it found its way out of the room but I've asked all my nurses and they each hotly deny ever touching his things. I know my staff gentlemen they weren't lying. I looked through his things and you won't find anything missing. We catalogue the possessions on the paper inside the bag. I don't see the point of moving it if theft wasn't the behind it."

"Thank you, it'll be dusted for prints but we already have a pretty good idea who it was who took his belongings." Jim paused hating the feeling that every minute Blair wasn't in his sight meant he was failing his friend more and more. The Sentinel turned his sense of smell down a couple of notches when he saw Simon open the bag beside him and peek inside. The last thing he needed was to lose his cool in front of Simon and be relegated to only an observer of the investigation. Smelling Cooper's scent always seemed to set him off. "Dr. Janus was the last person to see Mr. Sandburg. Now this doctor offered to keep an eye on Blair in his room while the officers used the restroom. It would be very helpful if you could give me any information you might have on him so we can track him down as quickly as possible." Jim knew the best way to get this woman to help was to not put her on the defensive, but to make her think she was offering them assistance. He watched as the nurse listened carefully to every word he said, only frowning when Jim mentioned the physician's name.

"Well I don't know about this Janus character but the doctor I saw talking to the officer was Dr. Cooper."

Both Banks and Ellison jumped forward at her confident statement. "Are you sure?" Simon asked eagerly, "We were given a description of the man by our officers and they said he had black hair and was tan. The physician even introduced himself to them as Dr. Janus."

"I would know Andrew anywhere! Such a sexy accent." She said dreamily. "He's a fantastic specialist in his field and a great surgeon as well. I had the privilege of going to one of his seminars in London last year. I know he looks a little different but when I confronted him about it he said he'd been on vacation in the Caribbean and decided it was time for a change. He came in this afternoon offering his services with the accident victims from the pile up. He said he was in town to visit an old friend when he saw the disaster on the freeway and thought we might need a hand. He saved quite a few lives here, you know. Then the chaos died down and he decided to head on back out." The nurse quickly stood from her seat making both men take a step back. "I don't know why he'd tell your men that, but it was Dr. Cooper I saw talking to the officer outside Mr. Sandburg's room. I'm sure he was the one I saw talk to Officer Taylor before he ran off to the restroom. I had rounds to attend to so that's all I noticed. I couldn't tell you if he went into the patient's room or not."

Jim and Simon exchanged a knowing look before Ellison stepped forward his hands held out in a calm placating gesture. "That is why we need to find him to clear up any misunderstanding. When did you last speak with him?"

"Umm…lets see. I was headed to the break room when I got the call from Doctor Falon to bring Mr. Sandburg some medicine for the headache he had. Dr. Cooper was headed there as well and since he knew I really needed that cup of coffee he offered to get the medicine for me while I took a quick breather. He brought me the scrip as I was finishing my cup, then he suggested we take some to your two officers since they'd probably missed lunch guarding Mr. Sandburg. He helped me prepare the coffee but had to duck out and check on one of his patients before he could walk with me to give it to them."

"Did he tell you were he was staying? Who his friend might be?" Jim knew it was a long shot but he asked anyway. He sighed as the nurse shook her head no. "Well you've been very helpful, Miss Buxom." Jim pulled out a card from his wallet and handed it to her. "If you remember anything else, that's my number, don't hesitate to give me a call...anytime." Ellison's blue eyes followed as the nurse walked out the door. When she was gone he turned to look at his Captain, "I was keeping tabs on her heart rate, Simon. She was telling the truth." He rubbed his hands over his face roughly. "Argh!" With his foot Jim lashed out at the chair the nurse had formerly been seated in sending the plastic and metal seat flying across the room to crash into the wall. "He was here the entire time right under my nose! Just waiting for his chance. I might as well have handed Blair over on a silver platter..."

"Well at least this confirms your theory that Blair was drugged. Cooper had the perfect opportunity to switch out the kid's meds and nobody would ever question his actions. Jim shouldn't you have-how does Blair word it... shouldn't you have sensed Cooper around since he was so close? You were both here for a couple of hours...Geeze, he could've even slipped you something. Get you out of the way if he'd wanted."

Jim whirled on his Captain, the confusion and fear on his face unmasked, "Yes! He could've, but he didn't. I wish he'd tried, at least then I wouldn't have any doubts about giving it my all in taking him down. There'd be no mistaking whom Blair would be safer with. Except this so-called psycho didn't come after me. No he bided his time saving people's lives until he could gain access to the one person who could save his!" Ellison walked over to the toppled chair picked it up righting it and then dropped into the uncomfortable seat with a defeated slump in his shoulders. "Blair pegged it from the start. This man is not a bad guy by nature Simon he's desperate. He's what I would be in his place I think, if the tables were turned. I want to hate him but I can't. I understand the fears driving Cooper."

"Don't go that route Jim. You won't be any good to Sandburg if you're wallowing in guilt and doubt. Sure he may have been a good guy but Cooper chose to break the law and accept the consequences doing so entails. Besides you're forgetting one vital fact in your little worst case scenario prediction...Sandburg doesn't want anything to do with this guy. He already has a pig headed idiot Sentinel, but at least you're half-trained. He'd be out of his mind if he threw you away and had to start from scratch."

"Some Sentinel... I should've noticed him nearby. Not the same way I sensed Alex but similar. Blair taught me to isolate and memorize a scent to tag it with a red flag so that if my subconscious came across it again I'd notice it immediately." Standing angrily from his seat he shouted, "I know Cooper's scent! I never smelled it here. In fact-" Now the sentinel was whirling around sniffing at the air like a blood hound. "I didn't smell him in this room until that nurse brought in Blair's bag of stuff. It doesn't make sense I should've picked up something because we know he was in here!"

"Calm down, Ellison." Simon held up the bag he was holding. "You're telling me you can smell Cooper on this bag?"

Jim stepped forward a frown set deeply on his face. He held the bag in his hand turning it over carefully, sniffing the white plastic surface. "No, not on it. In it. Cooper's scent is coming from inside the bag." Jim tore the bag open and upended the contents onto the empty hospital bed. Most everything landed on the rumpled surface; only some small pieces of jewelry fell off over the edge to clink down onto the hard floor below. He started to sort though the various personal effects, bringing each article up to his nose to inhale its scent. "Why do I smell Cooper inside the bag but not on the outside?" The question was being quietly asked more for his own benefit than to elicit an answer from Banks.

Simon rolled his eyes at the man's careless disregard for his best friend's belongings and walked over to the other side of the bed to pick up the earring and bracelet that had fallen. He held out his hand waiting for Jim to stop sniffing his partner's clothes and take the jewelry back. "Here you dropped this and I doubt the kid will be happy if we lose any of his stuff."

Jim spared only a glance at the outstretched hand. "The earring is Blair's but the bracelet belongs to someone else." Catching a stronger whiff of Cooper's scent he snatched up Blair's jacket. Jim realized in frustration the scent was barely present on Blair's clothes. 'But I smelled Andrew on Blair back at the station. Why is it so faint now?' His heightened senses could usually account for a few hours of dissipated strength but what his nose was detecting was confusing him. The smell was almost nonexistent; it lingered like an after image. It reminded him of when Blair had made him practice indirectly identifying smells of particular objects that had come in contact with a secondary object that he then had to analyze. The entire test had left his brain feeling more than a little fuzzy and disoriented. Jim pulled the jacket away from his nose. Holding it up with both hands he closed his eyes trying to let his sense of smell direct him to where the strongest concentration was. His eyes snapped open as his hand clutched at the sleeve. 'There! But if I'm right then...' he grabbed the corresponding sleeve of the sweatshirt Blair had worn as well, 'What?' Both sleeves had Cooper's scent the heaviest at the cuff. His skin itched and his ears buzzed angrily as he clutched the fabric in a tight grip. "I can smell Cooper's scent on his sleeves. But even then it's the strongest on the inside of the material not the outside where he would have been grabbed..."

"Ellison you can't tell me you know every single piece of property the kid has. The bracelet fell out of his bag as you up ended it. I'm pretty sure that means it belongs to Sandburg." Simon tossed the jewelry onto the bed in front of Jim. The gasp he heard from his friend set him on edge. "What is it?"

Jim had picked up the wide silver band only to feel the itchy feeling in his body intensify exponentially. "Sandburg wasn't wearing this when we left the loft, but...I remember him wearing it at the station..." An image of Blair's pleading eyes looking up at him flashed before Jim's mind. His hand unconsciously clenched tighter around the bracelet as he took a stumbling step away from the hospital bed.

"Ellison? What's is it?" Simon watched the man double over clutching his gut.

Like being held captive and forced to view some horrific movie Jim felt a wave of vertigo crash down over him as different images flooded through his mind:

He was accusing his partner, yelling at him in anger...

...Blair was desperately trying to reason with him, to calm Jim down and keep him from losing his control as the student tried to analyze why the Sentinel was so irritated...

...The Sentinel's hand was gripping his Guide's hair threatening him to force him to explain himself, slamming the young man's curly head against a tile wall...

...Blair was angry and in pain but still the guide refused to lash back at his enraged Sentinel...

...He was grabbing hold of Blair's thin wrist with the bracelet encircling it, ignoring the flaming pain contact with the metal ignited in his palm...

...Lifting his best friend off the floor and slamming his body against the wall repeatedly overwhelmed with fear and rage...

...the remembered smell of blood assaulting his senses...

Jim looked down at the bracelet in his grasp it burned his skin where his sweaty palm and fingers came in contact with it, "Simon, I - I'm going to be sick..." He shoved the offending piece of jewelry back towards the Captain. The second Simon took it he spun around and rushed out of the room.

"Ellison! What's wrong?!" Banks rushed to shove all of Sandburg's things back into the hospital bag. He growled at the delay it caused him to catch up with his Detective. "For crying out loud!" He threw the sack under his arm and ran after Ellison, "Jim!" Both Mendez and Taylor looked inquiringly at him as he walked briskly past them. "Get on the wire, have dispatch put out an APB for Sandburg and a Dr. Janus, A.K.A. Dr. Andrew Cooper. He's our Rainier University arsonist from last month and he's kidnapped our police consultant." The two officers jogged alongside Banks as he instructed them on their new assignment. "Give dispatch his updated appearance and have all the airlines alerted to the possibility that a Physician might be posing as a private doctor with an unconscious patient transport trying to get out of the country. I want a lead on this guy. Don't drop the ball on this one or you both will have permanent positions walking the beat, am I clear?" He waved them off and continued heading after Ellison who was disappearing behind a pair of closing elevator doors. He stopped short of running into the sliding metal doors just in time to barely jam his large foot into the closing gap. The presence of his foot forcing its way across the threshold triggered the doors to open again and Simon squeezed in mashing the blue 'close-door' button with a beefy fist. "What gives Jim?!"

Jim was isolating himself in the corner of the elevator, his posture rigid. He kept his gaze firmly fixed on the wall ahead of him stiffly avoiding any chance of eye contact with the big black Captain.

"You just ran out on me saying you were gonna be sick! Is everything all right?" Simon waited for what felt like an eternity for the man to answer his question. When it became obvious Jim had no such intention he moved to stand directly in his line of sight. "Talk to me Ellison, that's an order."

Jim's lip curled back in a snarl. "No, everything is definitely not all right," He snapped finally acknowledging his Captain's question. "Cooper has Blair, and I have the sick feeling your earlier suspicion that I'm the one who attacked Blair might be true. So to answer your question, No. Everything is as far from all right as it could be, sir." The elevator dinged and the thick metal doors slid open onto the ground floor. Jim quickly dodged past the tall roadblock of a man and strode off the elevator heading for the nearest exit that would lead him to the car he'd ridden in with Simon.

Banks fell in step beside Jim. "What did you remember, Jim?" He asked firmly snagging hold of the man's elbow once they'd walked out of the hospital, he steered the obstinate detective to the side to pause and communicate with him.

Jim jerked his arm out of his Captain's grip belligerently, "That bracelet...I think it's the key to what happened at the station. I know Blair didn't have that thing on when we went to the station but back in his hospital room when I touched it I had a flashback to the restroom in the station where I saw him wearing it."

Simon sighed; he had feared this might happen sooner or later. He'd hoped Blair would be around to walk him through how to deal with Jim's reaction. "What else did you see, Jim?"

Ellison looked up into the sad knowing eyes of his Commanding officer, a set of wise brown eyes that seemed to say he already knew the answer to the question he'd just asked. Jim erupted with enraged denial, "No I refuse to accept it!" He shoved past Simon jogging out into the parking lot heedless of the traffic around him. Different drivers blasted their horns and slammed on their brakes to avoid hitting him as he ran out in front of them on his quest for Simon's car.

"Jim! Stop! You're gonna get yourself killed!" Simon ran after his friend exercising more caution as he navigated the parking lot's heavy traffic. "Darn it, look where you're going, man!" Seeing Jim about to reach his car before him, Simon pulled out his keys and pressed the unlock button on his key fob to allow the tenacious man access to his car's interior before Jim broke a handle or god forbid a window.

The second Jim had the door open he staggered back as the smell of Blair's blood and his own on his clothes in the sealed bag assaulted him. He gritted his teeth and pushed forward. He couldn't lower his sense of smell again; he needed it to prove he wasn't crazy. "Cooper was in that bathroom, I just know it. I smelled him! His scent has to be on my clothes at least..." he mumbled to himself as he frantically tore through the bag bringing each article of clothing to his face to inhale the scents that lingered there. His hands were shaking as he checked and then double-checked. "Nothing...How?..." He sat trembling in the back seat his blood stained clothes strewn across his lap and the seats. Simon walked up to the open door and bent down to stare at him.

"Nothing there? No Cooper smell?"

"Only Blair and me on my clothes." Jim felt drained and angry. He glared at the fabric in his hands as if it were to blame for failing to provide him the proof he so desperately wanted. "I didn't attack Blair... I could never beat up my best friend."

Simon hated watching the toughened ex-army ranger breakdown before his eyes. "There's always a first for everything, Jim. As a cop you should know that."

Jim riled at those words, "I smelled Cooper in that restroom! Why beat up Sandburg when I could take that bastard down instead?!"

Banks was done with being the nice friend. They were wasting valuable time coddling Ellison's personal demons while somewhere in Cascade a valuable member of his unit was being held against his will. Simon shifted into his official capacity as Ellison's acting superior and Captain. "We have no evidence to support Cooper was ever there, no footage of him, no prints, no nothing. Only you. What's more we have an eyewitness who saw you manhandling Blair in the restroom, the witness just doesn't want to come forward officially until he's spoken with Blair!

"I didn't-"

"Take another whiff Ellison, because you need to realize the truth. You said it yourself the man's scent isn't here..."

"No," Jim perked up, "but it was on Blair's clothes..." he snatched the bag of belongings tucked under his Captain's arm and ripped into it again. Once more he analyzed all the items in Blair's bag only picking up the faintest hint of Cooper's odor on the inside of Blair's sweatshirt and jacket sleeve. Then he switched back to examining his own garments just to make sure he hadn't missed anything. Everything was the same.

"Cooper was the one who hid the kid's clothes in the first place it makes sense you would smell him on Blair's stuff, Jim. I can't believe I said that…"

"That would explain his scent on the exterior of the bag, but it's not there. This guy's scent is only here!" Jim shook the two sleeves in his right hand for emphasis. He couldn't blame Simon for not understanding. The man wasn't a Sentinel and he wasn't a Guide, he didn't grasp the full scope of what Jim's heightened senses could do for him, what they could detect. He could hear Blair in the back of his mind telling him to calm down, take a deep breath. The graduate student was always so much more patient with him when he was exercising his gift than Simon ever was, or himself for that matter. Blair would tell him to close his eyes and take a minute to center his self and then try again. So deciding to heed the wisdom of his absent Guide Jim did just that, he closed his eyes and opened up his senses to everything within the car. He could smell the overpowering stench of Simon's cigars, the fresh gasoline that had spilled on his trousers when they'd refilled the car's tank on the way back from the crime scene. He shook his head trying to dismiss these smells. Blair would tell him he needed to go deeper. He inhaled a large breath of air and the smell of rancid salsa from the spilled container Banks had been complaining about a week ago wafted up to his nose. He blocked out all scents that had to do with Simon and his car. He narrowed his focus to Blair and the clothes in his hands. 'Blood...mine and his,' He delved deeper finding Blair's sour smelling fear still lingering on his clothes, the faintest aroma of detergent from the organic fragrance free laundry soap Blair insisted they use. The barest hint of Cooper again made his nose twitch and when he turned his head away to rub at his nose he found the smell was also coming from behind the back seats of Simon's car. Jim's eyes shot open and he whirled around, kneeling in the confined space he sought out the button that would fold the seats back to allow access into Simon's trunk. 'There! Blair's backpack!'

"Jim?" Simon Banks watched the detective reach into his trunk from the back seat and pull out Sandburg's backpack. "What is it?"

"I wasn't looking for it before so I never noticed it but I can smell Cooper's scent faintly coming from Blair's pack." Jim held his hand just above the backpack smelling and feeling the air around the old leather sack. His hand twitched in irritation as he came near the front pocket. With little care for the zipper he tore open the front compartment and yanked out the manila envelope inside. It was empty but he sniffed at it to confirm the smell he'd detected. "I can smell Cooper here. Its the strongest here in fact." He handed the padded envelope back up to Simon for the Captain to examine it and reached back into the pocket for the small letter he suspected came with it. His shoulders initially sagged as he recognized Naomi's writing but seeing as how the letter too smelled heavily of Cooper he decided to read it in spite of Sandburg's right to privacy.

"Jim, this is addressed to your desk but it has Blair's name on it. Who's it from?" Simon looked away from the small item in his hand to find Jim's complexion becoming frightfully pale. "Good grief man, what is it?"

"He was too excited to read the stupid letter first..." With trembling hands Jim handed Naomi's letter up to Simon for him to read what he had found. He awkwardly stumbled out of the car's back seat brushing past Simon in his search for breathing room. He heard Simon's heartbeat quicken as he read the letter.

"Is this Cooper Naomi is talking about?"

Jim jerked his head up and down as he braced his palms out against the car for support. "Pretty sure, yeah." He clenched his eyes shut trying to ride the wave of nausea that was once again asserting itself. "Andrew hedged his plan on Blair not reading that first..." He gasped as the images he'd been forced to endure earlier began to resurface with stronger clarity this time. 'It was me. I did that to him with my own hands…'He let his body lean heavily against the car as he clutched his head, "I bet if you have that bracelet analyzed you'll find Andrew Cooper's DNA melded in with the silver."

"Holy sh-Crap..." Simon started finally understanding the implications of what he'd been told. "I am so sorry Jim."

"So am I." Jim said as his stomach let loose and he began vomiting against Banks' car. At least the images of him assaulting his best friend stopped while he was retching.


	18. Chapter 18

Blair could smell the mouthwatering aroma of Chipotle burritos floating through the air inviting him to join the rest of the waking world. His stomach started to gurgle in protest. His hunger pangs were trying to coerce him to go in search of the yummy aroma. He yawned inhaling the meaty scent of pork making him frown deeply. 'Pork?' He groaned. Jim knew how he felt about that. Of all the ways his partner could wake him up that was by far the cruelest and most twisted.

Sounds were trying to filter through into his brain, so he burrowed his head into the crook of his arm refusing to open his eyes or break the hold sleep still held over him. If he was just careful enough he could roll over pull the warm downy comforter up over his head and slip right back into that pleasant dream he was having of the new teacher's assistant in Archeology. Snuggling into the fluffy covers he couldn't help the smile that ghosted across his face; occasionally his roommate took pity on him during the winter months. Jim would pull out his mother's old down-filled quilt which he'd insisted his father allow him to inherit and then knowing how much Blair appreciated the extra insulation he'd drape it over Blair's bed as a sort of compromise for keeping the thermostat so low. He could feel the weight of that blanket now over the lower half of his body calling to him.

The toilet's flush from behind him made his thoughts spin with a disorienting feeling. 'Did I fall asleep at the foot of the bed?' The sounds of the bathroom were coming from the wrong direction. Deciding it didn't matter much to him if he slept at the wrong end of the bed so long as he got to sleep in for another half-hour he groped blindly with his fingertips for an edge of the blanket to latch onto. When he found it he pulled his prize protectively over his head.

The tantalizing fragrance of roasted pork was still trying to tempt him from his cocoon of covers. He couldn't even believe that Jim had let him sleep as long as he had if it was lunch already. It would be a shame of him if he didn't take his best friend's uncharacteristically good mood for all it was worth though. Then again if he stayed in bed for much longer the man might call fair game on Blair's food and eat it all. Tiredly he groaned under the covers realizing if he wanted to ensure he enjoyed some of the tasty meal he'd have to speak up or risk forfeiting his portion, "I hope mines is meatless, man..." 'There I staked my claim to some of the grub. He should leave it alone until I get up...in a little while.'

The sound of a door opening could be heard from inside his nest of covers and even though he wished to ignore the outside world he couldn't help but notice that their bathroom door sounded different. The hinges were squeaky. Jim would never let that happen; he'd go crazy from the sound. Blair rolled onto his back listening. His heart was thundering in his chest with anticipation for some unknown fear. His ears strained to hear the footsteps that sounded far too soft on what was supposed to be hardwood floors underfoot. The student suddenly realized with a gripping horrible dread that the bed he was laying in was much bigger than his own futon. From beneath the covers like a frightened child hiding from the boogieman the anthropologist heard the voice that had influenced his every waking moment for the last month.

"I was unaware you disliked meat Mr. Sandburg. If it bothers you, pick it out."

Blair cringed, he took a deep breath gathered his courage and threw the covers back off his body. The ceiling above him was unfamiliar as was the hotel suite he was sharing with his kidnapper. Turning to look towards the source of the voice Blair saw the physician sitting casually at the dinning nook. Memories of his last moments in the hospital sprang forth and his hands curled into fists at his sides. With more control than he felt he should have he sat up. "Why?"

"Good afternoon. I was afraid you were going to sleep the whole day away. In case you hadn't noticed it's now the following day." Andrew Cooper slowly rolled the sleeve of his dress shirt up exposing the fleshy crook of his arm. On the table beside him sat a small glass bottle with a clear substance and a filled hypodermic needle.

"No, Andrew. Why as in, why didn't you drop it or why did you come after me? Or how about this one: why couldn't you just accept that I don't want to be your Guide?!" He was losing his cool and a small voice that sounded remarkably like Jim's reminded him that yelling and shouting at your kidnapper was not a smart thing to do.

"I am well aware of what you were asking. However, I chose not to respond." Pulling a large rubber band tightly around his bicep Cooper then tied it off single handedly, clenching an end of the band between his teeth. With a swift motion he ripped open a packet containing an alcohol wipe and bathed his arm with the disinfecting cloth.

"I told you I won't Guide you and I meant it. You can threaten me all you want, it won't change a thing." Blair watched in morbid fascination from across the room as the Sentinel slipped the needle into his arm and after finding a vein then injected the contents into his bloodstream.

"And what of our earlier agreement? Of our mutual acquaintances Prof. Stoddard and your dazzling mother?" Andrew asked untying the tourniquet and capping the needle. He neatly gathered his medical supplies into a small leather case and then walked the case over to the wall-safe provided for by the hotel.

Blair jumped out of the bed angrily. "Don't you dare bring others into this! Especially not her! You want to be a Sentinel, learn to control what gifts you have? Well guess what's rule number one? Sentinel's Protect... They don't stoop to hurting innocent people to get what they want. They're proud warriors and protectors! Try any other lifestyle and your gifts will be stripped and you can kiss your sanity goodbye."

"I've familiarized myself with Burton's journals and understand the risks, Mr. Sandburg." Setting his leather bundle gently inside he traded it for a disposable needle which he carefully withdrew from within the safe. Cooper closed the thick metal door and set the lock securing his equipment inside.

"But it doesn't have to be that way, man. Give me time to find someone else for you. Your own wiling guide."

Andrew ran one hand over his face and then pushed his dyed hair back away from his forehead. "I'm also keenly aware of the fact that if I don't find that guide soon I'll likely lose my mind."

Blair eyed his captor suspiciously as the man began to advance on him. He glanced down at the hand he knew held some nefarious drug meant for him and backed away. "What is in that?"

"A little concoction I whipped up to alter the body chemistry enough for our scents not to be tracked by your bloodhound friend. It can take up to an hour for it to kick in…" Cooper's almond shaped eyes conveyed a note of apology for what he was about to put the student through. "I've been waiting for you to wake up to administer it. I couldn't risk a reaction between the drug used to render you unconscious and this one. It has the nasty side effect of making you highly nauseous as it works its way through your system." He wouldn't be swayed though by the panicked blue eyes that balked at his approach, he continued to advance. He was unconcerned when Sandburg spun around and bolted for the nearest door on his side of the large suite. It was only a bathroom and there was no window access for his captive to escape through. He remained unfazed hoping to win the academic over with as little violence as possible.

Blair made it to the restroom without Andrew tackling him or the sentinel even showing any concern at his lack of cooperation. The calmness the other man displayed in the face of his rebellion did more to terrify Blair than any threat of violence ever could. Slamming the door shut behind him he locked it and slumped against it. 'Think. Think. No window means no way out, other than the door behind me...Okay, option number two: take him down with one of his Sentinel weaknesses. Yeah that might work, then again maybe not if he really did read all of Burton's notes...' He was still in his hospital gown as his body slid down the length of the door to rest on the cold tile floor. His bare butt reminded him that he wasn't exactly in any state to put up a real fight or attempt an escape. There was a knock on the door right above his head and paranoia made the graduate student double check that the door was really locked.

["Blair? I had hoped you and I could come to a working arrangement where these senses were involved. Prior to your discovery that I possessed them you and I had become quite amicable over the phone. Would you please stop behaving in this childish manner and come out of there."]

'On the other hand there wasn't much in the journals about sensitivities in modern day Sentinels so maybe I can work with that...' Blair cast his gaze over the moderately sized bathroom searching for anything that might be of use to him but it was sadly bare. There wasn't even a vanity cabinet for him to possibly find detergents to incapacitate the man with. No, his kidnapper just had to be accustomed to lavish quarters! It left Blair huddling in a posh but utterly useless bathroom. "I've gotta say I'm not fond of needles man. I might reconsider coming out if you promise me not to use that stuff on me."

Sandburg was stalling for time trying to think of some way to help Jim find him without tipping Andrew off. It had been one day already if Cooper was to be believed and Jim hadn't found him yet...that was not good. It was frustratingly obvious he needed to wait for a better opportunity to attempt an escape, a time where his chances for success would be higher. Still, he didn't know how Jim would be affected if his body chemistry were altered, and being crippled with nausea would slow him down in an attempted escape for that matter. That lack of knowledge where Jim was concerned scared him. One thing was certain; his best friend would be at an even greater disadvantage if Jim couldn't track Blair by his scent.

Andrew was thinking his offer over, judging by the sound of the silence coming from the other side of the door, when the idea hit Sandburg in the head like a cold wet slap. He climbed to his feet stuck his forefinger in his mouth, shoved it into his armpits one after the other before quickly scrawling a note for the detective on the back of the door with his funk filled saliva. Now all that was needed was for him to do it once more after Andrew injected him with the drug; then hopefully the result would be his Sentinel catching wind of the hidden message. It was a risky chance he took not using something stronger like his own blood, something that would be sure to catch Jim's attention; but with blood he ran the danger of Cooper discovering and destroying the hidden message. He only hoped that the detective's obsessively driven frame of mind would compel the Sentinel to have his senses turned up high enough to notice.

["Fine. Come out and eat at least. You will need your strength for our upcoming journey."]

Blair rolled his eyes never believing Cooper's sincerity for a moment. There was no denying he was hungry but his anger at being held against his will took the edge off that need. He took a calming breath, shook off some of the adrenaline coursing through his body, sent a small prayer to whoever watched over trouble prone Guides and then unlocked the door. He was mildly surprised that it wasn't thrown open instantly, instead he had to brave turning the knob and easing the door open himself.

Andrew stood just outside the threshold of the bathroom wearing a white fitted dress shirt and a pair of khaki cargos; the entire outfit accentuated the tan he'd acquired to help mask his true identity. Sharp blue eyes locked with cool calculating green ones and in the next breath Blair was pushed back against the very door he'd opened with the needle being inserted in his neck. A second later he was released and Andrew stepped away pocketing the syringe for later use. "See now, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

Blair massaged absently at the juncture between his clavicle and neck. He bit his tongue to keep from responding, 'Yeah maybe not for you...' He kept his eyes glued longingly to the door far across the suite as Cooper walked towards the table with the food waiting atop it.

"I've informed the hotel staff of your unfortunate mental state. They believe I am returning you to the medical facility you escaped from. They've been instructed to cautiously detain you if you're seen without my escort and to then await my arrival to collect you. But if you really want to go that route I can always sedate you now and save us both the time and energy such a fruitless endeavor would cost." The Brit was standing beside the dining nook motioning to the drawn chair across from his seat. After too long a period of hesitation he allowed his hand to fall and proceeded to sit down alone at the table, "The choice is yours."

Blair silently walked over to the table and reluctantly sank into the offered chair. Andrew had set one of the monstrous burritos along with a lidded cup of iced tea at his place setting. He eyed the meal critically. Should he or shouldn't he, that was the question. Normally his pride made him balk at the very idea of meekly submitting to the will of his kidnappers but this instance was unique. He wasn't sure where he was or whom he could go to for help. Since he had no money to purchase food later if he did succeed in escaping he knew it would be prudent to eat what was provided for him. But he was still hesitant even with that knowledge. 'It looks like it hasn't been touched...' He reasoned with himself that if Cooper wanted to drug him again then he would have had plenty of time to do that while he was still unconscious or when he pinned him to the bathroom door, that the chances of the food being drugged were slim.

The police observer pulled the meal closer to him and began unwrapping it. He tossed caution and personal preferences to the wind after his first bite in probably over twenty-four hours and started inhaling the food with gusto. It wasn't until almost three quarters of the way through that he noticed he was being watched. He looked up mouth hanging open about to take another bite when he happened to glance at Cooper. The man was staring at him while he ate with the eyes of a starving man, the sentinel's own burrito sitting untouched on a plate before him. "Why aren't you eating?"

Andrew pulled his hands out from where they had been resting in his lap under the table and propped his head up in both open palms, ignoring the nagging voice of his nursemaid whispering from the past about manners and elbows on the table. "Haven't had much appetite lately."

Though Sandburg could hear the truth of what Andrew said, the man's eyes told him another story. Cooper's senses were acting up, making eating normal food almost impossible. Blair could see the pallid skin spread gaunt over sharp his jutting cheekbones. Large swollen bags stood out in stark contrast below Andrew's sunken eyes. 'He hasn't eaten in days…' The same thing had been a problem for Jim early on their partnership until his friend began learning how to deal with his heightened senses. 'You said you wouldn't help.' His own voice taunted him and he threw his burrito down with a disgusted sound. Sometimes it was so unfair being who he was! He argued over his options silently within his self before glaring at the British man sitting calmly across from him. "I'll teach you how to turn down the intensity of the things you taste so you can manage when it comes to eating but after that no more help. You hear me? You figure out how to apply the same technique to your other senses on your own!"

A small feeling of victory and great relief coursed through Cooper. He hadn't even needed to mention the problem to the teaching fellow and yet Blair knew what was ailing him. Any doubts he still possessed about what he was doing vanished with this proof of the young man's abilities. "You've no idea how much I'd appreciate that, Blair."

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't expect anything else from me all right. I just can't sit idly by while someone is starving, most specially you. This doesn't mean I'm willing to be your guide. It just won't do to have the only person who knows the whereabouts of Eli and the pathogen you stole kick the bucket, understand?"

"Perfectly." Andrew simply beamed a smile at Ellison's partner.

Blair pushed his chair back away from his setting then scooted it with himself still sitting in it until he had maneuvered the short distance around the table to sit in front of the novice Sentinel, the entire way muttering under his breath, "stupid smug smile must be a freaking genetic trait with all idiot sentinels..." When he was within touching distance he positioned himself on the edge of his seat leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. 'Where the devil are you Jim?' Blair thought sadly as he began educating the British physician about the usefulness of visualized sensory dials...


	19. Chapter 19

"Come on, we flew all the way out here last minute, at great expense to ourselves, just to talk with Miss. Sandburg!" Jim bristled as the photo of Andrew Cooper he slapped down on the counter for the hippie to examine was entirely ignored. "Listen Ms. Dewdrops, I haven't slept in over twenty-four hours. This is urgent! We are not leaving this retreat until we talk with her."

"First off it's Misty, Miss Misty Morning, and secondly, no." Without glancing at the photo Miss. Morning slid it back across the counter to the two officers. "Miss. Sandburg, much like our other guests, comes to our sanctuary with the knowledge that she will not be disturbed here. I know our rights: You're out of your jurisdiction and you haven't got a warrant. I don't have to do anything for you." Hands poised on her large hips like an old irate grandma she held her own against Jim's intimidation tactics. "This is a spiritual retreat, that means those who come here are seeking a reprieve from the stresses of everyday life; I doubt they'll feel they've escaped much of anything if I were to allow two police officers to traipse around interrogating everyone they please. Now until you've got something a little more legal than a pressing need to see one of our guests I suggest you and your friend high-tail it off this property."

"We aren't here for any of your other guests-" Jim growled ready to force his way past the petite older woman standing behind the counter. A large hand seizing his shoulder kept him from following through with any irrational thoughts he might have entertained.

Simon Banks pulled his frustrated friend back away from the counter stepping forward to make use of his much calmer presence and years of experience. "We understand your position Miss Morning. Thanks for your assistance and I'm sorry if we came across brusque. You know what they say: Old habits die hard. One thing and then we'll leave and be out of your hair for good. Could you please just convey a message to Naomi Sandburg when it won't disturb her meditation. Believe it or not we're family friends who just wanted to inform her that her son was admitted to the hospital back in Cascade, Washington."

The woman's salt and pepper braids swung violently as she whipped her head upwards to give the two officers her full attention. All signs of her earlier hostility gone. "Did you say Naomi's boy is in the hospital? As in Blair?"

'Hook, line and sinker...' Simon bit the inside of his cheek to keep the victorious smile from off his face. "Please just convey the message..." He nodded his head before solemnly turning Jim away from the woman and her desk. With confidence he proceeded to lead them both to the exit. He felt Ellison tense beside him not wanting to give up on this line of investigation, but he kept them walking forward anyway. He silently whispered to the Sentinel beside him, "Give her a minute, she'll come around..."

Jim relaxed finally understanding his Captain's tactic. He was grateful Simon decided to come with him to Colorado in search of Naomi. For some reason it didn't matter how much experience he had in the types of situation where it was imperative to keep his cool, times of high stress; when Blair was involved all logic and reason seemed to fly out the window. The Sentinel's blood and instincts cried out to crush all who got in the way of reaching his guide. This trip especially had been difficult. Simon's questions and concerns mimicked his own internal doubts about not immediately chasing down Blair and Andrew. If not for Simon he was sure over the last twelve hours he could have alienated all his friends. He couldn't seem to stop snapping at anyone who crossed his path. 'Trust Simon...' Said the voice that always appeared in the back of his head when he was inordinately stressed; it sounded suspiciously like Sandburg.

The two of them made it to the door when the receptionist, if she could be called that, stopped them.

"Wait, please! I know Blair. He's a bright kid. Technically this goes against the retreat's rules but I'm sure Naomi would want to know everything that's going on..." She was reaching under the counter in search of something. "And personally I'd hate to be the bearer of bad news. The hospital you say? Poor thing. Well, that certainly explains why you guys came all the way out here from Washington yourself." The woman pulled out a folded map and proceeded to highlight a specific path. "This is the main road right here where you parked. Our cabin's pepper deep into the mountainside with no lines to the outside world." She gestured the two men closer. "Have you got four-wheel drive?"

Jim nodded, his earlier ire with the woman subsiding.

"Good because you're going to need it to get where she is. Naomi always takes the Brown Bear cabin on the east slope of the mountain. She used to bring Blair up there when he was just a sprout. I think she came down a couple of days ago to make a call but then headed back up. If she's not in this cabin..." She indicated an area a few miles from where they were circling the spot a few times, "-then she's at the main retreat at the top of the mountain. Each cabin has a marked hiking trail nearby that leads straight to the retreat. There are no roads up to it, so you'd have to hoof it; it's about a hour hike." Misty folded the map in half and handed it to the shorter of the two men. "Just do your best not to disrupt the other guests, please. This is a retreat after all and it'd disturb meditation." She added with a twinkle in her eye, "Not to mention it would be bad for business."

"We understand. Thank you so much for your help." Jim gratefully took the extended map at once noticing the silver band encircling the older woman's wrist. Its markings were similar to the bracelet they'd discovered among Blair's belongings. "That's a beautiful band you have there, mam. Are they made locally?"

Thrown by the absurdity of the question given the seriousness of why the men were here, Ms. Morning stuttered protectively pulling the adorned wrist close to her chest. "This old thing? Yes. We have an Indian jeweler up at the retreat. He makes these by special request; they're supposed to draw out a persons natural and hidden talents. I sent one to my daughter I had made for her and now she claims it's helped her painting. You must think me a crazy old bat. Anyways I think Thomas used to be a medicine man back on his old reservation."

Jim shared a meaningful look with Simon and then beamed a smile at the old woman. "Thanks again for your help." He smacked the folded map against the captain's shoulder to signal their need to leave.

"Thank you Miss Morning and good day."

Simon turned away from the woman in the sun bleached cotton dress. He quickly followed Jim out the small adobe office. Together they climbed back into Ellison's rental car; a fairly new hunter-green SUV. They had already managed to exceed the stipulated contract mileage in the three hour drive to reach the mountain retreat. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"That we need to talk to that jeweler after we find Naomi, yes." Jim stretched his arm around the back of the passenger seat and threw the vehicle into reverse making sure everything was clear then pulled out onto the paved main road. "The markings on that bracelet matched Blair's like an artist's signature, it's a very unique and particular style. There's a slim chance for a lead but we might as well follow it up while we're here." He handed over the map to Simon for the man to help him navigate. Pushing the rental to its limit he raced up the road in search of the turnoff onto the specified dirt road that would lead them in the direction of Naomi's cabin and the main retreat.

"Jim, why are we even bothering to track Naomi down?" Simon shook his head unfolding the map to navigate. "Frankly I'm surprised we aren't hunting Cooper and Blair down..."

"You want to know why? Foremost because Blair will kill me if something happened to Naomi especially if there was any possibility that I could've helped her. "

"Upcoming left...right here. Follow this up for a mile, then there should be some serious snaking of the road, at the end of the fourth curve turn right." Simon cringed at the sharpness of the turn Jim took onto the steep dirt road.

Jim continued at his breakneck speed up the bumpy road, never missing a beat with their conversation as he navigated the narrow bends. "Andrew grabbed Blair a little less than twelve hours ago and while we may not know where they currently are, I know where Cooper is headed, where he's planning on taking Blair."

Jim's enhanced hearing picked up the clatter of hoof beats and he slowed the suv down as it came around another bend. He laid into the horn to encourage a Doe and her young to move out of the way. He could see Simon looking at him inquisitively from the passenger seat as he pressed down on the gas once the living obstructions had moved away.

"Do you use your senses for everything?"

"Not normally, no." Ellison dismissed the uncomfortable stare Banks was giving him. "Well maybe when the kid is with me, but not usually when he's gone."

A heavy silence settled over the car's occupants as each thought about what had been said. It was Jim who eventually broke the awkward silence.

"Anyway, Eli explained it to me right before he was snatched. It seems every Sentinel and Guide seeking to initiate their bond will be drawn to a specific temple not far from the one we went to while chasing down Alex." Jim's eyes kept scanning the road as he searched for the next turnoff. "Cooper won't go there until he feels safe enough to risk a flight with Blair and even then he'll more than likely need to drive far enough away from Washington to charter a private plane to take him and Blair out of the country without raising any suspicion." He took another curve fast enough to feel the back of the vehicle drift.

Simon grabbed hold of the overhead handlebar with his right hand while bracing himself against the dashboard with his left hand. "Ellison we won't be of any use to anyone if we crash on this god-forsaken mountain. Now for the love of God man, slow down!"

Jim heeded Simon's cries of alarm while a small portion of the Sentinel's attention and focus remained tuned into his sensitive hearing. He had cast his enhanced sense out ahead of them on the road to alert him to oncoming traffic dangers giving him the advantage of absolute confidence behind the wheel few drivers had. Jim wanted to continue heedless of his Captain's nerves but in the end chose to go slower for the sake of peace and unity. Blair would be so proud and shocked with him.

Jim smirked evilly as he thought of Andrew's limited resources, "Cooper's gonna have to pay through the nose if he wants to get Blair out of here anytime soon. We've sent out alerts about him to every airport south of Cascade clear down to the Mexican border. The only pilots who'll take him across the border are going to be shady two-timing scumbags out for a small fortune before they turn a blind eye to what he's doing. And then in the end to cover their tails they'll probably sell him out claiming they only recognized him from the alerts after the fact."

"So that's why you're confident enough to detour from the investigation! You're just going to sit back and leave Blair in that madman's hands until he's caught trying to leave the country?!" Simon felt rising in him a righteous indignation in behalf of his police consultant. He glanced at the map again and then up through the window at a passing rusted old street sign. "The turn will be coming up any minute now, Jim."

"Thanks. This guy isn't going to harm Sandburg, Simon, aside from holding the Prof. against his wishes. Blair will manage better now that he knows this guy isn't out to kill him. Then there's the issue of Cooper needing to sell that disease vial he stole from Rainier; that's the money he needs to get off this continent and make a new life for himself and my guide..." Jim's jaw ached from his tensed muscles as he explained these reasonings to his superior. He saw the turn up ahead and sped up towards it.

"Slow it down Ellison!" The map Banks held crumpled as he braced for another psychotic turn. To his disbelief they remained on the narrow road. A large beefy left hand clutched at his heaving chest, 'Breathe...breathe...' "I'll grant you what you've told me so far makes sense but don't you think you're gambling with Sandburg's freedom?"

"No. Because only I have the directions to the temple Eli discovered and unlike Cooper I have a buddy's jet ready on standby to fly me to Peru at a moment's notice. Even with the forced delay of checking on Naomi I have no doubt I can cut this Sentinel off before he drags Blair to that temple." Jim's gaze was glued to the road ahead of them. He offered no more explanation as the man seated in the passenger seat beside him mulled over what he'd been told.

"You're assuming Stoddard didn't give up the temple's location when Andrew snatched him." The only hint Simon got that Jim heard his comment was the Sentinel's tightening grip on the steering wheel.

Minutes ticked by as they quietly made their way deeper into the forest and farther up the mountain. The only movement in the vehicle being Jim's steering and Simon's studying of the map provided them.

"We should be getting close now." Simon sighed as he lowered the map.

Jim nodded his head. He rolled down his window a crack and took a deep breath of the mountain air switching the focus of his senses from hearing to smell. He searched for the ever present heavy scent of sage that clung to Sandburg's mother like an ominous beacon. 'There!' he crowed, he'd caught her scent and all without needing to close his eyes to help him concentrate. It was incredible what the right motivation could help him to accomplish. If the kid were with him now he'd have his notebook out with his pen scribbling furiously.

A few minutes later both Simon and Jim could see through the dense trees and foliage a log cabin with a copper roof. As they wound the car around the drive up to the little cabin Jim stiffened, there were two cars parked in the driveway. He parked the car at the foot of the drive so the occupants of the cabin would not hear them arrive. The moment his hands were free he was reaching for his service revolver and extending his hearing out to scan the cabin several hundred feet away. He kicked himself in the head, 'Stupid! I should've kept my hearing turned up.' Focusing he could hear two people inside the plain cabin and both seemed anxious from the sound of their heartbeats.

Simon took his cue from Ellison and drew his own gun. "Can you tell how many there are, Jim?" His voice was low and clipped. "Are Cooper and Blair in there?" When he got no response from the detective he glanced over to find the Sentinel with his head cocked to the side concentrating with a faraway look on his face. Simon rolled his eyes then punched his friend roughly in the shoulder, "Jim!" The glazed look in Jim's eyes cleared instantly. "Do not space out on me Ellison, that's an order!"

With a tight nod Jim held two fingers up indicating the number of people within. He silently opened the door and slipped out leaving it hanging open. He was relieved Simon too remembered to overcome the natural habit of slamming shut the door after exiting the vehicle. He waved the man over to his side of the car cringing since the Captain's near silent trek around the back of the SUV sounded to his sensitive ears like a stone quarry worksite.

Adrenaline gave Jim a very clear edge but without Blair around he faced the real danger of being overwhelmed by the intensity of the forest's stimuli. It frustrated him to no end, but he knew if he didn't want to pose a risk to Simon then he needed to set his dials down to normal or else risk a spike and possible zone-out at this distance.

Together the two men cautiously navigated up the driveway on foot. Training kept them to the treeline using the large trunks of the Sequoias as ideal cover. When they were a mere thirty feet from the cabin they paused for Jim to make use of his senses.

"Is it Cooper?" Simon whispered gruffly, he took a moment to catch his breath.

Jim cocked an eyebrow as he glanced between his big black friend and the steep drive they had just hotfooted up. "Need to cut back on Rhonda's muffins, sir?" He ignored the rude gesture directed his way.

"Just do your thing, Ellison."

"Right away, sir."

"And wipe that look of your face."

"Of course, sir."

"You're getting as bad as the kid, I swear."  
Jim took a deep breath to ready himself for the sensory scan he was about to conduct and frowned when he caught a familiar whiff that was entirely out of place. 'Stoddard?' He shook his head and focused on his sense of hearing which he could now risk turning up higher since he was much closer to the people within the cabin. He picked up the slightly annoyed and bewildered sound of Naomi, from the sounds of it seemed to she was scolding someone. Then the other occupant in the cabin spoke up and Jim himself growled in annoyance, "We can stand down sir, there's no danger." He mentally added, 'Yet.' He holstered his gun and strode purposefully to the front door of the cabin.

"Jim, wait!" Simon cried out after him angered by the disadvantage Jim left him in, "Who's here?!" But it was too little too late since by the time he'd holstered his own firearm the detective was pounding at the door.

"Open up, it's Ellison!"

He ran up behind Jim just in time to see the door flung open and a short white-haired man come charging out to face the detective. The sight made Simon gape in surprise, "You?! But you were reported as kidnapped!"

"Yes, well, and then...I was released."

TBC...dun dun dun...


	20. Chapter 20

Sandburg had long since finished the plate of food supplied him and now so had Andrew. It hadn't taken long to explain the elementary methods of sensory control to the budding Sentinel. When Andrew pressed for further knowledge Blair drew the line; after all it'd be counterproductive to expand Cooper's training into areas that would strengthen his position against Jim when the time came for the two of them to face off.

He hated that helping even to such a minor extent still felt like such a major betrayal against his best friend. The emotional upheaval plaguing him condemned him to such a degree his throat burned strongly with the bitter tang of bile. 'That or it could be the drug he gave you kicking in...' The thought should have struck him odd that his internal Jiminy Cricket just had to sound like Jim, but it didn't. Blair worried maybe he was losing it and briefly entertained the idea of asking Andrew whether this was a possible side effect of the drugs he'd administered, thankfully his reverie was interrupted when said captor looked at his wristwatch, shot to his feet, and then announced his intention to be gone for a short while but to be expected back by dinner time.

'So shoot... goes my usefulness,' Sandburg remained deathly still, sitting at the small dining nook watching Cooper getting ready to leave. The fear of another encounter with some mysteriously filled hypodermic needle gripped him so thoroughly that he almost couldn't breath for a moment. the fear passed quickly as his survival instincts kicked in and he began to glance back to the bathroom door calculating his next move. If the meeting Cooper was attending happened to be time sensitive Blair found himself presented with a rare opportunity, he could avoid the incapacitating drugging sure to come by holing himself up in the bathroom again, forcing the physician to leave or miss his secretive rendezvous. Either outcome seemed a win by his standards. Besides, he still needed to add his altered DNA to the message he was hoping Jim would discover and as he might not get the chance to do so later this seemed the ideal time. He tensed in anticipation of the next few moments when Cooper seemed to read his mind.

"Don't worry, Blair. I haven't slipped you a mickey, neither do I have any intention to do so, not for the time being at least. I will leave you here if full possession of your senses, I promise you." Andrew chuckled silently, "Senses-Hah! I say, I haven't felt this alive in quite a few months, Blair, and I know I have you to thank for that." He continued to gather his belongings muttering under his breath as each item was tallied and accounted for.

Blair couldn't quite grasp what he was hearing. "You're going to leave me in this room?… Conscious?" On the one hand it irked him beyond belief that Andrew had read him but on the other hand it wasn't like it was that hard a guess, anyone in their right mind would've been planning their immediate escape as well. He viewed the news as positive since Cooper clearly couldn't be as smart as they'd all been led to believe if he intended to leave Blair behind conscious and unguarded. The moment he realized the filter from his brain to his mouth was going to malfunction in an even more spectacular way than it already had a much saner voice in his head shouted at him to 'please, dear God, shut up.' As was his tendency he ignored it. "And you expect me to still be here when you return?!" His eyes shown with the incredulity he felt.

"Oh, I assume you'll attempt an escape."

The casual way Cooper flaunted his confidence as he spoke made Blair bristle as if he were being dealt with like he was a simpleton.

Andrew continued, "However, as I explained to you earlier, I've informed the hotel staff of your unfortunate condition and they're all under the belief that it's in your best interests to remain under the care of me, your concerned physician." He walked up to the safe, shielded the keypad from prying eyes as he entered the code, then withdrew some medicine from a dark brown bottle before closing everything back up securely inside. He laid the pills down on the table beside Blair, "These are in case you want something for the nausea. You're beginning to look a bit peaked."

Sandburg's stomach rolled choosing that moment to accentuate Cooper's point. He curled in on himself while clutching the back of the chair and glared daggers at Cooper's retreating figure.

"Do not for an instant doubt they will without hesitation apprehend you if you're spotted alone outside these quarters. I've left them with quite the incentive afterall; a substantial reward that will go to the individual or group of individuals who make your capture in my absence." The man snatched up a long coat hanging by the door and started to pull it on, "I wouldn't be surprised if half the staff were camped out on this floor just waiting for the chance to avail themselves of my money."

Sandburg blanched at the thought.

"So you just go ahead with your plans if you feel so inclined. It would make for some excellent exercise and you know how we doctors encourage that for our patients. Just do your best not to get injured, because we also know how zealous misinformed-money-crazed-people can be."

With that parting 'friendly' warning Blair watched as the man he'd previously known as an intellectual colleague confidently strode out the front door. "He didn't even bother to order me to lock it." He realized. Feeling a numb sort of dread Blair slowly left the table and walked toward the door. He silently cracked it open just enough to peer down the hall. He could see Cooper's retreating figure as he made his way down the hallway. Sadly that wasn't all he spotted down the hall. 'I am so boned...' Blair couldn't believe the number of luggage trolleys and housekeeping carts there were conveniently parked and in use on this floor.

A bell hop casually leaning against the far wall a few yards down the hall straightened as he caught sight him. The smile he directed Blair's way felt anything but innocent and it made him quick to pull his head back into the hotel suite, shutting the door firmly and locking it as well. As an afterthought he swung the safety latch over it's catch on the solid door remembering that some of these people possessed master keys. He had seen the devilish gleam in that employee's eyes. He collapsed back against the door letting his head thunk back loudly, "I take it back, he's even smarter than we thought."

There would not be any attempts at reasoning with these people. No explaining the truth to them in the hopes that one of them would believe him and offer their assistance. Nope, he could talk till he was blue in the face but all they'd hear of the supposedly crazed man's outlandish tale would be static and all they'd envision in place of his flimsy hospital gown would be the dollar signs added to their bank accounts. The reality of how effective Cooper's everyday-joe-schmoe guards would be against him made Blair more than a little disheartened and depressed. Here was a prime example of the ease with which his fellow man could be deceived and manipulated.

"I will not give up that easily..." Blair pushed away from the door, gritted his teeth against the queasiness the sudden movement caused him and then started to search the room for anything that might aid him in leaving his living nightmare behind. His eyes lit up when they fell upon the familiar sight of an air conditioner vent grate tucked out of plain sight beneath the dining table. A large smile split across his face, "Simon's always commenting on how I should follow his lead more often..."


	21. Chapter 21

Jim's jaw clenched, he couldn't believe what he was seeing standing there on the cabin porch before him let alone what he'd just heard, "What do you mean you were released?"

"What do you think Detective?" Eli said with a sarcastic sneer, "Dr. Cooper let me go! He told me I had to take this-" The Professor angrily waved a filled syringe in the air, "-this singular antidote out here to Naomi where he'd left her dying alone in this god forsaken cabin! After informing me of her dire situation he then left me to judge whether or not I had the time to go to the police. I rushed out here as fast as I could. I only arrived fifteen minutes before you two showed up." Professor Stoddard stood blocking the doorway. He searched past the Detective and the black man beside him bristling even more when it became apparent that Sandburg was not with them. "Where's my son, James?"

The older man's question made Ellison stiffen instantly.

"You let him get Blair, didn't you?"

Jim lunged forward grabbing hold of the front of the professor's shirt with his shaking hands and then bodily slammed the older man up against the cabin's outer wall. "I didn't let him do anything you hypocrite!" He could hear Simon shouting at him from behind and feel the Captain's hands trying to pry him off the older man but he allowed nothing to dissuade him. "Did you tell him where the temple was?!"

"Of course I told him. There shouldn't have been any harm in doing so; Blair was supposed be protected by you! Besides telling him was the only way he'd give me the antidote for Naomi." Eli defied the fact that he was pissing off a royally angered Sentinel and Detective. Every word he uttered cut as precisely as a surgeon's scalpel, exposing Jim's insecurities and forcing him to acknowledge his shortcomings. The academic's blue eyes blazed with accusation, "So explain to me how Andrew managed to get past you James. How a specially trained Army Ranger allowed his sole objective to be snatched out of his hands and away from his safe keeping?" His observation evoked the desired effect of stunning Jim allowing Eli to easily push the reeling man off him. He spent a moment smoothing out his rumpled shirt. "Do not presume to judge me, Ellison. I was protecting the rest of my family in the only way I knew how." After a brief pause to organize his thoughts and emotions Eli's demeanor soften into one of sympathy and understanding. "Come now James, there is still time. All is not lost." He motioned for the two men to follow him into the cabin.

Before anyone had taken more than a step in the direction of the threshold hurried steps were heard approaching.

"What in the world is going on out here?!" Shouted Naomi from deep within the cabin. A moment later the frown she wore transformed into a bright grin of delight when she saw her son's best friend standing on the front porch of her cabin. "Jim! To what do I owe this pleasure?"

When she moved past Eli intent on giving her son's roommate a proper welcome the tension in the air made her pause mid-stride. The arms she extended to engulf Jim in her trademark bone-crushing hug slowly dropped to her sides. "Where's Blair?" she asked as the striking absence of her only son finally registered in her mind. She looked from Jim to Simon noting their slightly guilty solemn expressions and then her frown returned.

To Naomi Sandburg there was little else to do than quickly analyze the facts as they were presented: First her old flame and the father of their only child suddenly appears spouting crazed ramblings about danger that she had yet to understand since the man seemed incapable of clearly articulating what he wished to share when he was distressed. Then her son's best friend and his boss travel all the way from Washington to Colorado in order to reach her, each with grave looks on their faces. And finally, yet the most alarming observation in her opinion; Blair wasn't the ever-present shadow at Jim's side. Naomi felt the world dip and swirl around her as her worst fears reared their ugly heads. Before anyone could reassure her otherwise Naomi had come to the horrible conclusion that she had lost her precious baby boy. "Blair..." She gasped as those fears stole her breath away, "Jim, where's my son?!"

Jim could hear the frantically racing heart of the woman in front of him and rushed to assure her of Blair's continued existence. "That's part of the reason we came to you, Naomi. First off he's alive. We know who he's with we just don't know where they are at this moment. I swear to you though I will find him and bring him home." The information though seemed to wash over her rather than sink in much to Jim's chagrin.

All three men saw the signs in time as Naomi swooned dramatically and they each rushed forward to catch her before she collapsed to the floor.

Simon held the door open for both Jim and Eli to carry Naomi into the cabin. As they passed him he couldn't help but remark, "Sandburgs never to do things by half, do they?"

Jim who held Naomi up under her arms looked up and over to Eli who was supporting her lower half. They shared a knowing smile before they both looked across to Simon and simultaneously said, "You have no idea."

Eli walked out of the cabin's only bedroom and quietly closed the door behind him. "She should be alright with a little rest now. A parent's imagination can get carried away at times and despite her lackadaisical behavior where Blair is concerned she has always loved that young man with a fierceness I would not cross lightly." He navigated the living room and dinette to reach the two men standing in the kitchen. Immediately he noticed Jim's red rimmed eyes and puffy nose. "I was going to suggest we sit at the kitchen table and discuss our next course of action but I can see the smell in here is getting to you, so why don't we all take a seat out back on the porch."

It took the Captain a couple seconds to notice what Stoddard had so easily picked up on, but after a brief cursory glance Jim's way, it was plain to see his detective's allergies had in fact begun assailing him. He hid his surprise behind a mask of cool indifference. Eli appeared tuned in to Jim, 'Just like another anthropologist I know.' The evidence continued to grow stronger and harder to dispute that Stoddard was telling the truth and that unbelievable as it seemed Eli really was Blair's father. Simon shook his head in wonder and sympathy; they were going to have one heck of a bomb shell to deliver to the kid when the time came.

Simon followed Jim and the Professor out back mimicking their silent exit of the cabin. He entertained for a brief moment the urge to light up one of his famous cuban's but both men seemed able to read his thoughts and glared at him with twin looks of severe disapproval. "What?!" he whispered indignantly before noticing that he'd unconsciously pulled one out already. "Oh, oops...sorry. Force of habit," he muttered rolling the cigar in between his large fingers one last time before placing it back in its case and the case back inside his coat's interior pocket.

Jim took a moment to inhale deeply the scents of the forest around him, making use of the filtering techniques Blair had taught him to block out the heavy stench of sage leaching from the cabin behind them. He felt the ghosting brush of Eli's fingertips along his back as the professor walked behind him to sit in an oak rocking chair to the right of Ellison. Again Jim was struck with how familiar this anthropologist was to his own. The thought of Blair made his heart ache. He gave a quick peek down at his watch seeing that in only a few hours it would be a full day since his best friend had been abducted.

Noting how at ease Jim was around the older man who just earlier he'd thrown up against a wall Simon couldn't help but smirk as a memory popped into his head. It was of Jim telling him how he'd done something similar to Sandburg when they'd first met. Even now as they all chose a seat to collapse into he was surprised by how close Eli sat to Jim and he couldn't help but wonder whether Jim realized he'd allowed the action, even going so far as to lean in towards the academic. The Captain was beginning to form his own suspicions of the man they'd found in Naomi's cabin. 'First it was Sentinels and now it's their Guides. I'm beginning to feel like a character in a science fiction thriller.' Banks mentally sighed, under different circumstances this setting they were all in would've been interesting; maybe he'd have considered it restful, even beautiful, but now he everything was tainted by the fact that a vital member of their small close knit society was missing. Right now they needed to deal with official police matters. Banks bit the bullet and decided to be the first to get right down to the point, "Was he telling the truth? Was Naomi sick when you got here, Professor?''

Eli leaned back in the hand-carved rocker and took a deep breath. "I don't know if I'm to be quite frank with you both. She was meditating when I arrived and seemed fine to me." He ran his left hand nervously through his salt and pepper wavy hair. "I took her by surprise, let me tell you. It's been almost ten years since we last communicated. I tried to get her to tell me if Andrew made her take anything, injected her with anything, left her any food to eat, but she wasn't paying much attention I think to what I had to say." A deep rosy hue colored his cheeks, "See when I first barged in I immediately tried to give her the antidote." An embarrassed chuckle escaped, "My own attempt at getting past any time consuming formalities and her inevitable barrage of arguments about the sinister side-effects of modern medicine were not met well, and that's putting it mildly."

Simon's eyes widened humorously and he stared pointedly at Jim who was seated opposite him. "That sounds familiar." He muttered for only Jim to hear, "must be a family trait."

Jim cleared his throat loudly, "So, what you're saying is you think he fabricated the threat to Naomi in order to get the information he wanted from you?"

"Sadly, yes."

"Do you think he intended to grab you at the university when he broke into the Lab?" Simon added.

"No I think that was more a crime of convenience. He saw me crossing the quad and not wanting me to inform you and Blair of his reappearance any sooner than he'd planned he demanded I come along."

"Was he armed?" The thought made the hair on the back of Jim's neck rise. He hoped the Sentinel wouldn't use it on Sandburg.

"I believe so but he never had the need to bring it out. I was fully aware of the contents of the vial he'd stolen and thus had no desire to start any type of confrontation in the heart of the city." Eli surged forward in his chair and struck his fist down on his knee angrily. "My only regret is that I didn't take the time to get in touch with you and Blair to let you know of his return. I was so concerned with Naomi I never questioned your ability to protect Blair."

Simon decided to cut the old man a break and simultaneously slip a reprimand towards his detective. "You weren't wrong in putting your confidence in Jim's abilities Mr. Stoddard. But Jim wasn't around to protect Blair when Andrew made his move." He could see Jim stiffen and glare across at him. He returned the heated gaze with a cool and calm one of his own.

"What? Not there? What do you mean not there? Just a few days ago Blair phoned me pleading with me to reason with James to, oh how did he put it? 'Cut him some slack and lay the heck off the bodyguard from hell routine.' I got the impression nothing short of an earthquake would separate him from Blair's side. How then-" Eli frowned turning to search Ellison's face with a piercing gaze of his own.

Jim was pinned by both men's intense demanding stares and the weight of their silence. His jaw muscle twitched as he fought the urge to curse. Through teeth clenched tightly shut he finally broke the silence, "I let a misunderstanding get in the way of clear thinking and as a result I left Blair's side at the hospital to visit a crime scene. Andrew slipped him something we think to knock him out and took Blair away under everyone's noses. By the time we got back there was no sign of either of them." Verbalizing what happened made Jim's stomach revisit the way he'd felt earlier upon learning he'd been Blair's attacker at the station.

Eli picked up on Jim's uneasiness and pulled out a peppermint tin he kept with him at all times. He passed the container over and made sure to convey with his eyes that he harbored no ill feelings towards his son's Sentinel.

Jim gratefully accepted the hard candy. He popped one into his mouth and was about to utter his thanks when the world shimmered around him and everything took on a blue hue. Gone were the familiar coniferous forests of the north replaced now with the ominous jungle flora he'd lived with for eighteen months of his adult life.

"Simon?!" Ellison shot up from the dead tree stump where he'd been sitting, both his companions had disappeared. "Elli?!" He hadn't expected anything different since this was the norm when he was drawn into these visions, but he'd secretly hoped for a change just this once. Jim growled in frustration over once again losing all sense of control, "Incacha!" He called out to the deceased shaman.

To his surprise a very faint voice could be heard calling out to him and he immediately dialed his hearing up to latch onto the words being spoken. It amazed him seconds later to recognize the voice as belonging to Stoddard! "Eli?" The startled surprise was clearly heard in his tone of voice. He had asked for a change of pace hadn't he? Well this was a totally unique development. "What's going on? Why can I hear you here?"

["Do not worry about that now, James. Everything is fine at our end. I've explained to Simon what's going on."]

The voice sounded like it was getting fainter and coming from farther away.

["What you need to focus on is why you're having this vision. Let it guide you, and for pity's sake man don't fight it..."]

And just as bizarrely as it had manifested the voice was gone.

"Don't fight it. Don't fight it?! Every time I have one of these things something bad happens!" Jim rolled his shoulders. He glanced down at his body nodding in confirmation as he once again found he was dressed in the fatigues and Chopec markings he'd been rescued in what felt like ages ago. He took a second to warm up, jogging in place and cracking his neck as he stretched his arms behind his body, "Don't fight it." He repeated, "Fine..." the grudging acceptance came out in a seething hiss.

An eagle's screech broke the silence of the dreamscape. He looked around the jungle suppressing the chill that coursed down his spine as he was reminded of painful recent events. He loathed that he was familiar with this place. The eagle cried out a second time and this time Jim's body responded to the call and snapped to attention like an overly tightened guitar string. The next time the screech came he'd piggy-backed his sight with his hearing and located the direction of the animal guide the call was coming from. The Sentinel took off through the dense underbrush like an arrow from a bow. He had no idea what he would find where he was heading but he was sure of the direction and a firm determination drove his feet. His heart thundered in his chest as it supplied all his muscles with the necessary oxygen that even this fictitious environment required of him in order for him to keep running.

It felt like an eternity passed before Jim realized he'd lost sight and sound of the eagle. He came to a halt in a patch of jungle that looked no different from the one he'd started off from. He forced himself not question the point of it, instead he clenched his fists shut tightly in an effort not to shout out his frustration with Incacha or whoever else had brought him here and then seemingly decided not to inform him as to why. "...don't fight it...he said not to fight it..."

There was a startled gasp from his left and Jim spun around ready for anything. He anticipated a panther or some otherworldly being, but the sight that greeted him would make Blair laugh in disbelief if he ever got the chance to tell his guide about it.

A darkly tanned young man of obvious Native American descent had crashed through the brush to fall to his jean clad knees before Jim. The kid looked young, younger than even Blair had been when Jim first met the graduate student, but the indian's eyes revealed him to be in fact very old.  
The interloper panted and supported himself on shaking arms braced against quivering thighs. He grinned up at Jim with a look of pure delight on his face. "Sorry, I know I'm late, but I haven't been able to run like that for quite some time. I got carried away...You must be the young Shaman's true Warrior."

Jim's short temper manifested itself, "Just who the hell are you and what are you doing here?!" The ever present bow and arrow slung across his back were itching to be put to use. Then a little of what the man said made it through his haze of anger and he quickly calmed. He extended his hand out to help the man with long black hair up off the jungle floor. "Did you say young Shaman's true Warrior? What do you mean? It could be the difference between life and death." Jim pulled the man up onto his feet then took a cautious step back giving him some breathing space.

The expression of mirth melted away to be replaced with a deep look of regret. "I made a mistake Warrior. I saw the dark shadow that hung over your rival but greed drove me to disregard my instincts and as a result I accepted his commission to make him a ceremonial bracelet for the young shaman he spoke of."

Jim stood frozen as he digested what this man had just told him. "You're Thomas! The native jeweler at the retreat." The newcomer's identity came to him rather unexpectedly. Only he was more than a little confused since the hippie back at the office had described the resident Indian as an old man, not some young twenty year old. 'So what, you've seen Blair in here and he was in the form of a wolf at the time.' The Sentinel grimaced wishing he had Blair around to help explain things to him, this sort of thing was the kid's forte. Jim thought he might now understand how he was seeing this man in his vision; Ms Morning had said he was a Shaman. "The bracelet you made for him, does it normally require a part of the warrior's body?"

"Of course you know about that." Thomas' gaze dropped to the floor in shame. "No, it does not. I stopped practicing the old ways a long time ago but I didn't forget them. What he wanted was not honorable like in the old ways. This had the strength to destroy an existing bond. I knew it was wrong but did it anyway. I couldn't believe in these modern days your type still existed so I humored him and made the band." He gathered up his hair into a long ponytail then withdrew a knife from a small leather sack tied to his waist. With a swift movement he cut the length of jet-black hair off and offered the wrapped locks to the Sentinel. "Here...I have forsaken the old ways and endangered your shaman, Warrior. If you find him give him this from me, as a peace offering ."

Jim didn't appreciate the hesitation in this man's conviction that Blair would be found. He was hesitant to comply but remembered Eli's direction and so took the offered gift. He stared down at his palm watching in fascination as the hair began to liquefy in his palm and curl up around his forearm where it was absorbed into his skin leaving dark black swirls tattooed up the length of his arm. 'Bizarre...' he thought but wisely kept to himself. "I will find him and when I do you can apologize to him yourself in person." Ellison watched a sad wistful smile sweep across the Indian's face.

"For the first time in decades, Warrior, I walked the path of the dreamers. I saw a wolf being trapped, slowly poisoned and forced to obey an enemy's commands. All this I beheld as a result of my selfishness...I fear my heart will not survive this last vision. To have experienced this wonder again after so long at the price of such a betrayal? No, am more than ready to accept my discipline." Thomas took a confident step back away from the Sentinel. He looked up into the sky and spread his arms wide in greeting. "I wish you all the help of the old ones Warrior, but we shall never meet outside this realm. Now go. You are needed now more than ever. Do not delay."

Jim watched with bated breath as the young man was engulfed in a strong updraft of wind before bursting into a billions grains of sand and being swept away by some unfelt draft of wind that carried what was left of him high above the Jungle canopy and into the sky above. It transpired so fast he doubted whether he'd witnessed it at all. With a deep breath Jim pulled his gaze down from the heavens to his now ornately decorated arm. "You're gonna hate yourself for missing that one Chief." Jim was so caught up in his thoughts that he never noticed the eagle's screech signalling an end to his vision.

In between breaths he found himself back on the porch seated in the old wooden rocking chair staring down at his unaltered forearm. The sun was now setting and Simon was ten yards from the house quickly creating a serious fire hazard by the amount of cigar stubs littering the ground around his feet. Jim turned to find Naomi watching him from the seat Simon had vacated. She turned her gaze away from him to look at the man in the seat beside Jim.

"He refused to leave your side, but it was getting so cold." Naomi was referring to the blanket covering the old anthropologist's sleeping torso.  
"Simon explained a little to me about Andrew." She wore the signs of a highly stressed mother with swollen puffy eyes. Those eyes had returned to staring at Jim. "I figured if it were something more he could share with me then he would've offered up more of an explanation... I have an idea, but honestly I could care less." The red head pulled the afghan she had wrapped around her a little tighter to protect against the evening chill. "Find my son, Jim. If he's made any contribution to you and your work then you owe it to him."

Jim nodded and stood up gritting through the pins and needles that coursed the length of both his legs. "When he wakes up thank him for me. Simon and I need to leave now." He moved down the porch towards the steps that led to Simon and the drive around front. As his foot hit the bottom step he stopped to turn around and address his best friend's mother one last time. "I have a feeling you'll find that old Indian Thomas dead somewhere on this mountain. Make sure his relatives and tribe are alerted before any officials try to do an autopsy on him. Understand?"

Naomi stared back with large green eyes open wide with astonishment. She nodded her head in understanding and gave him a small parting smile, "Thank you Jim, for being his friend."

"Don't thank me yet." He called back softly as he motioned to Simon that it was time for them to head out.


	22. Chapter 22

Minor Author's note here folks: The following chapter may turn those of us with sensitive stomachs. Nothing bad per se just gross especially if you have an overactive imagination like myself. Anywho...Sorry for the errors in punctuation I seem to be having serious incompatibility issues with the way I upload my stories and while things may look good at the time when they post stuff seems missing...or maybe I'm simply losing it. Oh well, we may never know. ;) (For some of you out there that last bit was a wink. Don't laugh I just got that a bit ago myself. *Sniffles dramatically* I'm only twenty-nine...)

And now we take you back to your regularly scheduled program...of angst...muwahahaha!

"Thirteen floors..." The peace loving anthropologist wanted to personally kill Dr. Andrew Cooper with his own two bare hands. Sadly those hands were currently quite weak and trembling. "Thirteen floors of successfully navigating past these greedy idiots all while enduring gut wrenching abdominal pain and debilitating nausea and for what? To be locked up like a rabid pest in a custodial closet. I only had two more floors to go..."

Blair felt the overwhelming urge to vomit coming over him again. On shaking hands and knees he crawled over to the corner of the closet where earlier he'd blindly groped for a container to heave his guts into for the first time after he'd been captured. If he made it now this would be round three and he feared he'd be in serious danger of filling the container to its brim. It took some effort moving about in utter darkness but finally he christened the mop bucket once more. It felt like he'd been cooped up in the suffocating room for hours already. An albeit small, yet thankfully still rational, part of his brain informed him that it was simply a mixture of boredom, sickness, and anxiety messing with his internal clock, making him perceive time's passage askew.

"Breathe...breathe...in and out...in and out..." Back when Andrew placed the stomach medicine down on the table beside Blair, right before leaving him in the suite alone, he'd dismissed the idea of placing his trust in the psychotic physician and his offer of medication to alleviate any discomfort he'd be feeling. Taking the risk of riding the injection's side effects out on his own he'd left the pills untouched on the tabletop. Within short order he'd begun wondering at the wisdom of that decision. The medicine induced nausea had slowed him down considerably and had ultimately been his undoing. "Cooper probably knew that all along, the jerk..."

After a particularly grueling bout of vomiting and dry heaving while on the run Sandburg had passed out and was found in the air ducts on the second floor when hotel guests complained of strange sounds and smells coming from down one corridor. Blair woke up on the closet floor covered in some stranger's jacket still in his hospital gown that now reeked of the sickly sweet stench of his puke and the mustiness of dusty old ventilation shafts. A passing vindictive thought made him smile and gave him a small amount of comfort, "They'll be cleaning puke out of that duct work for weeks to come. I hope the smell never goes away."

Living with a Sentinel had its difficulties at times but the one drawback that reared its ugly head most frequently was that after a few years of living a life free of most chemical scents and perfumes, Blair had grown accustomed to their absence throughout most of his daily routine. As a result he'd become quite sensitive to odors of any kind himself.

Waking up in a janitor's closet with the overwhelmingly strong chemical fumes and fragrances of industrial strength detergents assaulting him had been a new kind of torment for him. It instantly brought on another wave of illness for the young man. For once he was given keen insight into what an olfactory spike might be like for Jim. He would never again tease Jim's sensitive nose, that much was for sure.

While his depressing failure at an attempted escape stung there had been some vital information he'd garnered that could aid him later on. Now for instance he knew he was somewhere in California called Stockton, at a lavish Hilton Hotel, whereas prior to his attempted breakout he'd been completely in the dark as to where Andrew had taken him or how far for that matter. And as long as Andrew didn't up and change plans on him the police observer had overheard some of the hotel staff eagerly discussing the two more days left they had to possibly earn the reward money Cooper had promised anyone in the event that he escaped and was recaptured. That was two more days of further attempts he could make at removing himself from the psycho Sentinel's side. Considering where they were it seemed safe to presume Andrew was heading for the border. Blair knew with a certain dreadful finality that if he made it out of the states with him there would be little hope of Jim coming to his rescue.

Though he doubted its helpfulness, the graduate student had spent most of his captive time calling out through the locked door to the hospital staff in the hopes that one of them might put stock into what he had to say. He'd pounded relentlessly at the heavy metal door until his hands ached with bruises, all in the hopes of at least aggravating one of the employees to the point of a forced confrontation. Even getting the attention of a hotel guest again had begun to feel like a good idea once more; though his first attempt had almost led to premature capture when the lady took one look at his state of dress and had started shrieking at the top of her lungs.

He had to give Andrew props for conceiving such an ingenious method of securing insurance against his hostage's escape. If Blair ever turned to the dark side he'd have a few new tricks at his disposal from his arsenal of experience to which the Brit had unknowingly added.

Noises from the other side of the door caught instantly Blair's attention and he quickly resumed his plea for help, demanding to be handed over to the police. As the sounds of footsteps drew nearer a familiar sense of foreboding tugged at his mind and his instincts screamed that whoever was approaching would definitely fall into the category of foe. 'Cooper...' His abductor had promised to be back for dinner. Blair scurried back away from the door into the furthest corner of the closet. His rage at being handed back over to the man who had dared tear him away from the life he loved came crashing to the fore and he revelled in the adrenaline rush such anger supplied him with. He grabbed hold of the bucket, suddenly grateful that he'd thought to puke into it rather than on the corner of the floor and waited for his moment of opportunity. When it came he barely felt for the other people who stood beside Andrew when the door opened and they all found themselves suddenly covered in cold awful smelling vomit.

"Oh my god, that's sick!"  
"The smell...ugh-"  
"The little prick!"

He made a mad dash past the group, completely indifferent to the fact that he was flashing the world behind him.

"Blair! Stop! You need help! Don't just stand there, assist me. He must be stopped!"

Andrew's acting fueled Sandburg's rage and he ran with renewed purpose, 'Get outside, make a scene, get arrested, then get help...' he repeated his hastily concocted plan like a comforting mantra. It helped take his mind off the fact that already he had knocked down two maids and a bellhop all intent on stopping him and claiming their share of Cooper's reward. 'Oh I'm gonna have such bad karma for hitting those girls,' he thought almost gleefully as he slammed into the stairwell door and pushed through at breakneck speed. He could hear heavy footfalls behind him and their sound made his heart leap into his throat. 'Keep moving, don't look back. Just keep moving!' He was relieved that his thoughts had returned to being uttered in his blessed protector's voice. "I'm so outta here, man," he agreed.

Blair Sandburg was good at running, always had been, and he got plenty of practice at it working with Jim; he would have been even better however had he been wearing shoes of some kind. As it was he took the staircase three stairs at a time and prayed that he wouldn't trip and break his neck. As he hit the main floor landing a spark of hope ignited in his chest that he just might end this insanity. He lunged for the emergency exit door and shot out into what he hoped was freedom and a crowd of overly prudish pedestrians all too eager to dial the police and inform them that there was a streaker on the loose.

What he emerged out into was something altogether different; a small secluded courtyard used by the staff for taking smoking breaks and lunches. A crowd of about seven different people all turned to see who had barreled out into their personnel rest area and each set of those eyes recognized Blair for what they had been told he was; an escaped mental patient worth a whole lot of money.

'I can't take on this many people!' The realization made Blair panic. Even if he tried to fight them off he would remain all too aware of the fact that these were innocent if misguided people he was fighting with. He couldn't live with himself if he seriously hurt one of them, the fight would be lost before it began. He spun around and shot back into the stairwell past the staircase to the opposite door that led to the ground floor suites. Above him, the enclosed space amplified the sounds of Cooper and the others charging down after Sandburg giving off the impression he was being hunted by a large S.W.A.T. team. He spared no time running through the main floor corridor in search of the lobby and his means of escape. His timing seemed perfect as most of the staff appeared to have been taking a break together. He cleared a corner and saw an enormous bank of glass windows with a spectacular view to the street outside just ahead of him with hardly a person to stop him in sight, just the odd group of guests here and there. He shot off like a rocket towards the doors, the problem was no one not even an olympic sprinter could outpace the speed of a desperate Sentinel and just when he was about to hit the fancy carpet that marked the automatic doors' sensor area he was scooped off his feet from behind by a large pair of gorilla like arms.

"No! Let me go! This man is not my doctor! I need the police! Please someone believe me!" He thrashed and kicked, slamming his head back in an attempt to connect with the nose of whomever was holding him. Blair felt a prick in the meat of his upper arm and cried out in dismay. "Not again!" He bucked even harder trying to free himself. This drug was probably stronger than the one Andrew had given him back in the hospital. He could feel it loosening his tensed muscles, so he quit fighting and reserved his remaining energy to try and reason one last time with the only people who were in a position to help him.

Sandburg's eyes shone bright with unshed tears of frustration as he looked desperately to those in the crowd, "Please, you people don't know what you're doing! My name is Blair Jacob Sandburg, I'm an anthropologist working at Rainier University." Through his peripheral vision he could see Cooper readying another dose of the drug he had just injected him with.

A manager walked up trying to reassure the gathering crowd of people that everything was under control and fine. "There's nothing to see here anymore folks. Lets give this young man some space. Everything is being taken care of."

He spoke faster, pleading with those around him. "No its not! Listen to me, I'm also a consultant with the Cascade Police Department in Washington and this man here has taken me against my-OW!" There was an even sharper stab in Blair's upper arm again. The lobby started to blur and fade as Blair shook his head, "-against my...my will." He swallowed thickly squinting up from his throbbing shoulder to the angry green eyes of the man withdrawing the syringe from his flesh, "Not... more... drugs. Andrew please..."

"Don't worry Mr. Sandburg, everything will be fine soon. We'll get you back where you belong in no time. Just relax and allow the medicine to do its job."

Blair's eyes closed blocking out the sight of the man who'd at one time devoted his life to saving other people's live. As he felt the drugs work their way through his system the sounds from the lobby around him continued to filter into his semi-conscious state. He strained to hear whether anyone had taken his plea to heart.

The closest voice came from the Manager who'd acted as damage and crowd control while Blair had still been able to plead his case. "Lets get him a wheelchair. It will be easier for you to get him back to your room that way Dr. Cooper." The man mountain holding him a clean foot off the ground hitched his sagging body up a little higher and was the second closest voice Blair heard, "Sounds like a good idea, sir. He may look small but this dude is solid." From somewhere to his right he heard Cooper agree, "Thank you that would be appreciated. We'll just be waiting over here by the elevators." As they waited in silence other voices from the surrounding lobby drifted over his way.

"Poor young man, he seemed so full of conviction. What if he was telling the truth hun?" It sounded like an older woman that he could kiss for taking notice of his genuine distress. Then an older skeptical sounding man spoke up from the same direction, "Come now dear, that's why they need medical attention. I mean an Anthropologist? Did you see his hair?! Let the professionals deal with it." Blair wanted to knock the kindly old lady's counterpart's block off. Their voices soon faded away as they walked too far for him to hear.

"Mommy will he be okay?" It was the little girl Blair had seen upon running into the lobby, his one hope that he'd somehow managed not to have mooned her in all the chaos resurfaced. Damaging kids' psyche's was so not his thing. Her mother was trying to reassure her though the doubt in her tone of voice was plain to hear, "Yes sweetheart, they just had to give him his medicine. See that's why you always have to do what the doctor tells you."

A group of teenagers must've walked up beside them waiting for one of the elevators because their loud voices drowned out the rest of the lobby's sounds for a moment. "Geez what a nut job." "I know crazy, right?" "Hey be nice you guys, that might be you someday." Blair felt immense relief as a chime sounded the elevator's arrival and the teens were closed off from his range of hearing.

Then an old familiar voice floated his way, "Hey Phil, sorry I'm late. Seems like I missed all the fun. What's happened?"

"No prob Kev. The boss probably won't even notice after the day we've had today. We had some whack-job claiming to be an abductee, said his doctor was out to get him."

Blair realized he and his captors must be close to the front desk because these two were close enough to be talking normally and still he could hear them rather clearly. The one named Kevin sounded so familiar and his voice rang a bell somewhere in Blair's foggy mind.

"Whoa, crazy."

"That aint the half of it. The Doc offered beaucoup bucks to anyone who caught his patient trying to escape their suite while he was gone. Todd caught him in the end, the lucky dog. Guess he'll be able to afford that new car he's been wanting."

Blair hated that now he could put a name to Mr. Man Mountain holding him, it made it harder to hate the guy for having caught him.

The two staff's voices were beginning to tunnel as the medicine's effect gained ground in his bloodstream. "Suck. What a day to be late, I could've used that money. Well at least no one got hurt right?" Blair wanted to yell, 'Wrong!' but his lips and tongue felt oddly numb.

"Nobody except the patient. You shoulda seen the size of the needle this poor guy got jabbed with, twice!"

"That's a bit excessive isn't it?" Blair's heart skipped a beat with the concern this familiar stranger Kevin expressed towards him, the poor schmuck he hadn't even seen yet.

"Dont know, dont care." Sandburg wished Phil, however, a boot to the head.

"Excuse me, sir?" It was the mother of the little girl Blair may have scarred earlier returning to the front desk apparently.

The hope Blair had entertained with Kevin's interest in his story died when he realized they would now be required to work instead of fraternize.

"Yes, miss?"

"Sorry to bother you but my little girl was pretty disturbed by what she saw back there when they made the sick man go to sleep with the big needle and I think she could really use some reassurance that Mr. Sandburg will be just fine? Don't you gentlemen agree?"

All hope hadn't yet been lost! Blair knew that if this was a Kevin he was aquainted with, then hearing his name might just jog a few memories loose. He only prayed his sudden excitement over this conversation was being masked by the medicine paralyzing him slowly.

"Hey, yeah sweetie, don't worry that doctor is going to take good care of him."

"Really?"

"You betcha."

"Thanks."

"No prob, Miss. She kinda reminds me of my niece. Sorry about that earlier. First time for everything I suppose."

When Kevin finally spoke again it was like music to Blair's ears. "Wait did that woman just say the guy's name was Sandburg?"

"Yeah so?"

"Well, did you get the guys full name?"

"I think it was something girlie..."

"Blair?!"

"Yeah! Hey you know the guy?"

"Maybe...I had a college professor once by that name...I wonder." A mental cheer for his old student went off in Blair's mind.

"Well see for yourself he's right around the corner by the elevators. He's the short one with the hair that Todd's holding."

"Holy sh-"

"Crap, it's the boss! Better get to work."

"Yeah...sure, um, listen I'm gonna need to make a quick phone call first. Cover for me?"

Every synapse in Blair's brain exploded with the joy he was unable to express. All his students knew the cranky stubborn Detective he lived with. Jim had chided Blair on more than one occasion for giving his students their home number to reach him with course related questions. It had worked! Not exactly in the way he had intended and there was still the chance Andrew might pull up stakes sooner than later because of what had happened but the result would still be the same in the end. One James Joseph Ellison would be getting a phone call that would severely alter the odds so they were more in his Sentinel's favor.

"Fine, but you owe me one."

"Sure man, you name it."

Eyes still closed Blair wondered whether Andrew had caught the conversation he had. He hoped the smell of vomit rolling off their clothes was enough of a distraction for him to have missed it. He hoped the trick he'd taught the man of turning all of Andrew's senses down at once when they were bothering him was being used this very second. The voice _had_belonged to someone familiar and now its owner was going to be his salvation. 'Thank god for the innocent concern and persistence of children,' Blair thought before he gave up and let the medicine pull him into peaceful oblivion.

TBC...


	23. Chapter 23

Simon had insisted on driving next time around. He wasn't about to be put through an encore of Jim's earlier driving skills. There was no way the Captain would allow the cocky Sentinel with all his so-called enhanced senses to drive back down the mountain in complete darkness with the same reckless disregard for a normal human's blood pressure as he had on the trip up.

"We're racing the clock according to my vision, Simon." Jim didn't feel like fighting his friend so he relented hoping he had stressed the point of urgency. Though he climbed into the car his mind was still on the vision he'd had on the cabin porch. Thomas was an extreme example of the danger incurred when you ignored your instincts. There was a lesson in there for him to learn, he only hoped he wouldn't forget it. He closed his eyes and rested his head back on the headrest as the Indian's words drifted back for him to remember. "...the strength to destroy an existing bond..." That meant some form of bond had at some point at least existed between the two of them. Had he completely destroyed it was the question?

To some extent Jim was relieved to know his behavior back at the station had been a direct result of the influence the shaman's band Blair wore had on him, still that explanation didn't remove the guilt he felt at having hurt his best friend. 'I should've been stronger. How can I call myself his blessed protector now?' It was a thought that haunted him. He wondered whether Blair knew the truth. If his best friend remembered Jim attacking him in the precinct. He thought back to the hospital and the moment Blair had awoken from unconsciousness. He hadn't sensed any fear rolling off the young man as a result of seeing him first. In fact he recalled Blair displaying genuine relief at seeing him, or so it seemed to him at the time. However it would only be a matter of time before his partner remembered who had assaulted him yesterday.

'Yesterday...' Jim's hands rubbed tiredly over his face, '...it feels like an eternity ago.' He pulled his hands away from his face and stared at them. He had hurt his best friend with these two hands. In the past he'd easily killed with these same hands. The breath caught in his throat as that horrible possibility tumbled around in his mind. 'I could have killed Blair. What if someone hadn't walked in on us when they had?' His hands clenched into fists and he dropped them onto his lap as he silently gazed out across the passing scenery of the passenger's window.

A taunting voice laced with doubt and insecurities whispered from within, 'What if he wasn't kidnapped?' His stomach muscles clenched fiercely and he felt the stirrings of anger build at the back of his throat and make his ears buzz. Jim tried to focus on Blair's earlier declaration of loyalty from a couple weeks back. Sandburg repeatedly turned down the request to help the other Sentinel. Had that changed as a result of Jim's attack? Would Sandburg think now that he was better off with Cooper. 'Maybe he remembered and decided to go with Andrew? It would serve you right...' Jim's nails dug into his palms as he forced himself to dismiss the poisonous thoughts. He doubted Blair knew the connection his mother's gift had with Cooper; if not then that lack of knowledge would cast the other Sentinel in a good light. The idea made Jim sick to his core. The heart so many joked he didn't possess wanted to break with the contemplation of that scenario. 'No, when Cooper showed up Blair was adamant that he didn't want anything to do with the new Sentinel; that won't have changed,' Ellison desperately reassured himself but it was hard. He knew Blair had been extremely forgiving and patient with the whole Alex thing but for the student to have to go through something so traumatic all over again and so soon? He wouldn't be surprised if they found Cooper and his roommate was nowhere to be found.

"Stop."

"What?" Jim snapped to attention, sitting a little higher in the passenger seat feeling foolish for forgetting that he had an audience to his introspective musings.

"I said stop."

"Stop what sir?"

"What you're doing; the mental hamster wheel. It's unproductive and the kid wouldn't want you to do it anyways."

"I-" Jim's mouth wisely snapped shut. There was no point denying his captain the keen observation. "Thanks sir."

"No problem."

The remainder of the trip down the mountain took considerably longer than Jim would have liked but it was spent it in companionable silence. The silence might have extended clear up to their arrival at the small airstrip where they planned to meet Jim's old army friend, where it not for their phones connecting with the cellular network once they reached the base of the mountain.

Jim's phone chimed first alerting him to his waiting voicemail. As he reached down into his pocket to withdraw the small device he heard Simon's start going off as well. "Want me to check that for you?" Jim asked pulling his own phone from his pant's pocket.

Simon glanced at the fuel meter. "No, I'll check it when we stop for gas." His eyes darted across to Jim seeing his friend searching through his list of recently missed calls. "Anything important?"

Jim frowned scrolling through the numbers. "Maybe..." There were several calls from an unknown number that had been placed to him within the last fifteen minutes. "Simon do you know if any of the guys at the station have a 209 area code number?"

"Screening calls now Jim?"

"Yeah well, when Daryl gives out your cell number to his school friends someday lets see how willing to pick up the phone you become?"

Simon paused, "First the Loft number and now this? You need to put a tighter leash on that kid when you get him back, Jim." He turned their rental onto the ramp heading south on I-25 for downtown Colorado Springs, "Actually, I think that's a California number. Joann has family out there. Why?"

"Well I've just received three calls within the last fifteen minutes from some number out there. Maybe they left a message..." Ellison toggled through some of the phones functions to access his voicemail when the small handheld device started ringing and vibrating in his hand. He looked up and over at Simon with surprise and an eyebrow quirked in curiousity. When he checked the caller id his eyes widened a bit, "Guess who."

"Same person? You don't think it could be Sandburg do you?"

Jim didn't know but he certainly hoped. It would not be the first time his partner had managed to escape from an abductor on his own. The police observer could be very inventive when motivated right. A spasm of guilt over the number of times his Guide had been kidnapped since becoming his partner twisted his gut. 'Why can't I keep you safe, Chief?' Thinking about Blair again made Jim worry about another problem. The kid had been gone for a full twenty-four hours by now. Any pain medication and anti-inflammatories the hospital gave him would be entirely out of his system by now. If Cooper didn't take pity on his captive, Blair would be feeling the acute ache and pain from the bruising at his back and fractured wrist.

Simon heard the phone ring repeatedly without Jim responding and feared the detective might have zoned, "Ellison you planning on answering that?"

Jim shook his head to clear his mind of the worrisome thoughts and focused on the ray of hope he held in his hand, he hit the answer button. "This is Detectiv-"

["Blair's roommate, right? Thank god...I've been trying to get a hold of you forever! Listen I'm a student of the prof's, well I used to be as of last year but then I moved to California-"]

Jim wanted to growl in frustration, he rolled his eyes looking over at Simon. It had been what he'd feared. He berated himself for entertaining the hoped that his guide had escaped and was trying to contact him for help. He put his hand over the mouthpiece and whispered, "Student." He cut the young man off, "Listen sir. I'd appreciate if you didn't try reaching Sandburg using this number. I need this line available for emergency use." He heard the voice on the other end of the connection express a disgusted groan of disbelief.

["Unreal. You haven't listened to a word I've said. I'm not calling to talk to Blair. I'm calling to tell you I think he may be in trouble! I remembered he used to work with you cops occasionally so I don't know if he's undercover but I just saw him and he seemed like he was in trouble. I could be wrong but the prof never seemed like the type to go off his rocker. I just thought I'd call to make sure someone knew what was going on."]

Jim sat speechless and stunned for a moment before he ordered Simon to pull over. He hit the button for the speaker, "You're telling me you've seen Sandburg recently?! Where are you? How long ago?" The senior detective rifled through the glove compartment in search of a piece of paper and pen.

["That's exactly what I'm saying! Holy Cow, you mean he isn't undercover or something? I knew something was messed up with the way they were treating him!"]

Jim abandoned his search for thevpaper and pen. "Treating him? What's happened? Is he hurt?!"

["I think they've drugged him from what I've heard. I only saw him after the crap went down, but he certainly looked that way. I mean he was never that still unless he was gradin-Scratch that, he was never that still!"]

"He's drugging him..." There was barely restrained rage lacing the Sentinel's voice as he realized what that meant. A drugged Blair was an easily pliable Blair. He tried not to think too hard about the bad things that could mean. Then he thought of how Blair hated drugs. His roommate hated modern medicine of any kind. He only cooperated with the doctors when Jim forced the issue or his natural remedies wouldn't work in their place. There was only one positive benefit to what he'd heard, 'At least he shouldn't be in any pain,' but sadly it was a hollow reassurance. It made sense why Cooper was doing it but the revelation made Jim seethe. There would certainly be little risk of his best friend attempting an escape if he was doped up to the point of unconsciousness. He looked over to Simon the anger rolling off him, "I am going to kill him with my bare hands, Simon. I swear to god."

The conviction and calm in Jim's stoic and controlled tone of voice spoke volumes to Simon. The Captain's wide worried eyes were staring over the phone to Jim, a deep crease marring his dark brown face. He needed to take over he realized. He smacked Jim in the arm as he snatched up the phone and pressed the button to return the cell phone to its earphone speaker. The action didn't pose a problem for the Sentinel but it allowed Simon better control of the conversation. "This is Captain Simon Banks speaking now. What's your name young man?" His swat caught the Jim's attention and Banks silently motioned for him to renew his search for the paper and pen.

["Kevin, sir. Kevin Beecher. I work at the Hilton Grand Hotel in Stockton California."]

"Can you tell me what happened to Mr. Sandburg, Mr. Beecher?"

["When I came to work this afternoon a friend of mine informed me of some big scene that went down in the lobby here involving a mental patient and his physician staying at our hotel. I heard someone say the name Sandburg and when I looked into it I found out it really was my old professor. I was horrified!"]

Jim listened in on the conversation as he reached over into the back seat to grab Sandburg's backpack. The kid always carried notebooks with him. He'd decided to bring the pack with them knowing how much Blair would want it as soon as he was rescued. And rescued his partner would definitely be. Besides his best friend had been drilling into the Sentinel's brain the need to have the material with him if he ever went missing. His grip tightened reflexively around the leather strap, he hated that the young man felt the need to think ahead for these types of worst case scenarios, but he despised how most often than not such prudence was useful. Already Jim was beginning to feel the strain using his senses put him through without Blair having been around for so long to help ground and center him.

In his haste to locate the pen and paper the main compartment was savagely opened. He anticipated the fabled tomes his friend always carried with him but what Jim saw first, to his dismay, was an evidence bag. 'Wha-' The detective remembered their discussion from the other day and tried to dispel the disappointment he felt at his partner's actions, 'I told him not to check anything out.' He was grateful Simon was too distracted to take note of the item in his lap. Growling quietly he pushed the contraband aside and thrust his hand into the bag in search of a notebook, pulling out the first one he discovered. Further searching rewarded him with the sought after pen. He closed up the pack concealing the small artifact enclosed in the evidence bag and tucked the pack down onto the floor at his feet. He shook is head as he realized how fortunate Blair was that when his bag went sailing through the truck's windshield the small figurine hadn't been destroyed. "Got it, Simon." He immediately started jotting down the pertinent information the young man provided them with to ensure they didn't forget anything.

Both men continued to pay close attention to Kevin as he continued to recount what he knew.

["This is all second hand but apparently this guy Blair is with has the staff under the impression that he's a Doctor returning Blair to some facility he escaped from. Phil says, that's my coworker, he says the doctor's been coming and going from the hotel regularly, leaving Blair in the room. I was told he informed the staff that if anyone caught Blair outside the suite and returned him they'd get a real sweet cash reward. I'm afraid nobody had any reason to believe this guy was lying so when Mr. Sandburg tried to escape half the hotel staff came after him."]

Simon exchanged a look of disbelief with the Sentinel beside him. "He almost escaped...Wait you're telling me the employees hunted Blair down? And nobody thought to call the police?! Good lord, if he had been a real mental patient someone could've been seriously harmed."

["Well from what I've heard the professor put up some fight and left quite a few people with bumps and bruises."]

Deciding he would need to have a word alone with the Hotel manager when he arrived Simon asked, "When is he planning on checking out?" They needed to figure out if this could be handled by the two of them or if they needed to bring in the local help to have Cooper taken down.

Jim pounced on Simon as he followed his Captain's train of thought, "Sir he's not going to hang around after a scene like that. It draws too much attention. He's going to leave soon, tonight even."

Simon placed his hand over the mouthpiece to Jim's cell, "How soon can your army buddy have us up in the air, Jim?"

The Sentinel closed his eyes and calculated the time in his mind trying to recall to memory the speed and distances they had yet to cover. Rubbing a hand over his tense jaw he realized quickly they would probably be too late if they waited to join the cavalry. The idea of leaving his best friend's rescue in the hands and power of some strangers did not bode well with Jim. He wanted so badly to take the risk of waiting till they go there so they could be involved in Cooper's arrest, but his friend's life and happiness were not something to gamble with. This was not the time for him to be selfish. He shook his head solemnly, "No good, we are at least five hours away. We are going to need some help, sir."

"That's what I was thinking too." Simon inhaled a deep breath and in his most commanding tone of voice addressed the young man who'd probably saved their police observer's hide, "Its Kevin right?"

["Yes, sir."]

"What I'm about to tell you is very important. We are going to get in touch with the local law enforcement in your area and have them come out there to arrest this man, hopefully before he escapes. What I need from you is to do your level best to remain calm and not try anything heroic. If this man tries to checkout sooner than the cops arrive-" Simon's rich chocolate brown eyes caught Jim's icy blue and silently conveyed his regrets over the direction he was about to give, "if that happens you need to not interfere. Remain calm and do your best not to give anything away with your behavior but I repeat do not approach or initiate any contact with this man. It could mean the lives of many people, am I clear?"

("Yes sir.")

Simon continued, "Now when the police arrive, cooperate with everything they ask of you. Before I hang up we just need some information from you. What floor and room number are they on?"

["Fifteenth floor room number 1528. Downtown Hilton Grand Hotel."]

There was a long and weighted pause from the young man's end of the line before he spoke again.

[" Are you sure there isn't anyway I can help more than that?"]

Jim saw Simon gear himself up for one of his famous we're the cops and you're the civilian speeches. He snatched the phone out of his Captain's hand faster than lightening, "Only this: If he leaves with Blair just see that you get his license plate number, the make and model of the car he drives off in and the direction they head in. Okay?" He heard the former student agree heartily and then hang up. Jim swallowed heavily and threw the pad full of notes he'd made onto the dashboard in disgust. "He's gonna hear them coming a mile away."

"We don't know if he's that good, Jim. He hasn't had any training yet for all we know."

Jim turned from looking at Simon to staring out the cars' window into the obsidian night beyond. A dense feeling of dread took up residence in the pit of his stomach. "It doesn't matter, Simon. He has Blair; he has all the advantage he'll ever need."

Simon hoped for all their sakes that the withdrawn man in the passenger seat was wrong.


	24. Chapter 24

Property Rights - Chapter 24

The first thing Blair became aware of upon waking up the second time in Andrew's company was the cool sensation of air brushing against the back of his neck. That in itself set off alarms in his mind. Usually when he woke up the thickness of his hair more than adequately insulated his neck from the cold.

Dry gritty eyes opened and Blair grimaced at the parched swollen feeling in his mouth and throat. Waking up with most of his limbs feeling heavy and his chest aching as though an elephant was standing on it was worrisome. He wondered what was going on. The image of calculating green eyes glaring at him as a syringe was pulled from his upper arm flashed before him clarifying his predicament. 'Oh man I hate drugs...'

Once more he was lying on the suite's king size bed, only this time he was resting on his side with his head pillowed on one of his arms. The air stirred again at the nape of his neck and his blue eyes shot open in alarm as his muddled mind finally realized what that sensation could only mean. 'my hair...' He pulled his hand down to feel for the familiar long curls and was prevented from doing so as his hand stopped short a few inches away. He looked up to find his wrist fastened to the bed's headpost with a makeshift chain of industrial strength zip ties. 'Guess Andrew learned from the first attempt...'

A quick search around the room to see if the British physician was nearby came up negative so Blair drew up his cast encased arm grateful that it at least was free. He knew just because he couldn't see or hear the Sentinel didn't necessarily mean the man was out of earshot, because of this his heartrate refused to calm down. Slowly he brought his fingers up to the back of his head to feel for the chestnut curls. For a moment it didn't seem real, it felt more like a twisted joke than anything else really. It was just as he feared, his hair had been cut. 'Gone...its gone...' His eyes clenched shut as he inhaled a shaky breath. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He'd only been missing a day and a half and yet in that time he'd been drugged, managed to escape, was recaptured, escaped again, was captured a second time and drugged again and now he'd had his hair cut. Suddenly it felt like Sandburg's entire body was an overly taut guitar string and this one action was the force that made him snap under pressure. He swallowed thickly, angrily trying to push past the lump of emotion lodged in his throat as his fingertips gauged the remaining length on his head. It felt like there was only about five inches left. 'How dare that son of a -'

The sudden sound of the bathroom door opening made Blair's eyes fly open, his already racing heart skipped a beat and he jumped along with it. With narrowed eyes Sandburg recognized this for what it was: Cooper's retribution. The Sentinel's way of showing he was in control and that he was still the one calling the shots. The psycho was lashing back at him for having thrown the pail full of vomit on him earlier and daring to attempt an escape. "What do you think this'll do Andrew? Break me? It won't and you know that; it'll grow back. This changes nothing..."

"Quite the opposite in fact..." Andrew announced with a imperious air as he strolled out of the bathroom and into the main room. "Our schedule has altered somewhat and as a result I've changed your appearance to make our escape and disappearance easier." He grabbed a large black duffel from off the foot of the bed and walked it over to the front door where he dropped it next to another piece of luggage. When he spoke again he was looking straight at Blair while heading to the small safe where he'd stashed his medical equipment and drugs. "I took the liberty of purchasing some clothes for you. While the style is different from what you're accustomed to, the sizes should be correct." The Brit jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "They're in the bag in the bathroom. I'm afraid before we leave for our flight I'm going to need you to bathe and change into-"

Blair sat up with a burst of speed, "I'm not leaving here with you Andrew." He tested the strength of his bonds, tugging firmly a few times. "Jim is on his way and when he finds us he's gonna beat the trash out of you then lock your sorry butt up just like he did the last Sentinel that messed with 'His' Guide." He bent his head down to try biting through the plastic tie. It was too thick. Frustrated he let his hand drop back to the bed, "Besides I thought you had business to do here over the next couple of days. The place you went to while I was escaping, what about that, the virus?" He needed the man to stay here long enough for Jim to get the message about where he was.

"First off, my young friend, you are and secondly Ellison won't have the chance. As for my business, its been handled already. By the time your detective friend finds us we'll be deep in the Peruvian jungles and I'll have bonded with you already. By then separating us will mean your death. If he's truly a friend to you I very much doubt he'll be willing to harm you." The Physician's attention turned to keying in the safe's code.

Blair's blue eyes frowned, "Handled? What do you mean? What have you done with the virus?"

Andrew tried not to let his anger get the better of him, but it was difficult with the growing migraine he had. "What I always intended to do with it, sell it." The small thick safe door swung open a little harder than he intended and smacked loudly into the wall encasing it. A small piece of plaster crumbled to the floor. "It was necessary in order to acquire the funds we'd need to leave this country. Interpol has frozen my assets along with all my accounts."

"You sold it! Who to?! What if they release it in a populated area..."

"That worry did cross my mind, but it's of no concern to me now. The buyers tried to cheat me." Andrew said with a sneer, "They've learned you don't cheat a man with a gun. I left them and took the money. The police will find their bodies along with the canister containing the pathogen and then everything will be right as rain."

Blair watched as Cooper filled the hated syringe with liquid from the same bottle he'd used on him earlier at lunch. It was the dreaded stuff that made him feel like he'd contracted some horrific intestinal flu. He really didn't want a repeat of that. Even now his stomach was still sore from all the vomiting, "Unless you want a violently sick traveling companion you'd better not give me another dose of that stuff." A derisive snort was his response.

"Not possible I'm afraid. Perhaps this time you'll accept my offer to help alleviate that problem and take the medicine I provide you with." With practiced ease Andrew located one of his own veins and quickly depressed the plunger, injecting its contents into his bloodstream. "Besides, you ought to be grateful-" he added with a feigned positive note, "other than altering our chemistry, this 'stuff' as you put it is the only thing keeping me from having bonded with you already. And I know how eager you are for that to happen..."

Sandburg shuddered but the information made his head spin with possibilities, "That drug suppresses the urge to bond?... How can it do that?"

"Wouldn't you like me to share that secret with you..." He muttered sarcastically.

The desire to ask more questions ate at Blair but doing so would mean putting his attempt at another escape on the backburner for the time being. He wasn't sure he could do that. A sad thought struck the anthropologist and before he could engage the filter between his mouth and thoughts he heard himself speaking, "You've completely lost it haven't you? You were such a brilliant surgeon and doctor just a little while ago, Andrew. What's happened to you?"

A bottle went sailing through the air inches past Blair's head and exploded on contact with the wall behind him, showering a clear liquid across the bed sheets and walls. He flinched in response.

"These so called gifts happened! That's what...Who wants a surgeon to operate on them when he's hearing things; Or for that surgeon to operate in almost complete darkness because the lights are blinding him?! I was accused of being a bloody bedlamite! Everything I worked so hard to achieve, decades of sacrafice up in smoke and why? Because of these senses." Cooper fisted his hands and smashed them against the wall in frustration and anger, "And what gets me most is you knew! You both knew freaks like myself existed today in the real world but you and the Professor denied it. Oh I knew enough to see past the lie, but then you still had the gall to turn down my request for help!"

Without drawing too much attention to himself, Blair discreetly snatched the alarm clock from off the nightstand, gently tugging at the cord till the device popped free from the wall.

"Well no, I refuse to accept that. I may have destroyed my life's work but I've been offered an opportunity to get some of what I lost back, as long as I can 'function properly'. A chance to start over, using these gifts even. A new line of research with unlimited resources at my disposal."

Blair didn't like what he was hearing. He fingered the alarm concealed behind his back nervously. What Andrew was saying, along with the phrase 'function properly', had a distinctly unpleasant and clinical sound to it. A sick cold feeling of dread settled over him as he listened to Cooper continue.

"Only problem is in order to function properly I need you." A humorless chuckle spilled from Andrew as he continued to fiddle with his medical supplies. "But don't worry, because your sacrifice won't be in vain. With my medical expertise I can discover what makes you so unique. With research and time others out there like me and Ellison might have a chance to keep their lives from shattering and falling to pieces or being forced to rely on some 'person'-" The word was spat out derogatorily, "...to function in the everyday world." Silence reigned throughout the suite as Cooper gazed at a bottle in his hand that was only a third full. "Now look what you've made me do. That was the last bottle of inhibitor I threw at you. Better hope this-" He shook the dark brown glass bottle in Blair's direction, "-lasts until we get to Peru, because from what I've read it can become quite uncomfortable for a bonding guide who doesn't make it to the Companion's temple soon enough..."

Andrew inserted the needle into the small glass bottle and refilled the syringe barrel halfway. "After the initial dose all you need are booster shots to keep it in your system...I on the other hand require full injections in order for the chemicals to work. I'll assume you know more about why I react differently. Seeing how we don't have the time to get into it though, I'll have to suffice myself with remembering to ask you later to explain it. Now," He withdrew the last of his supplies from the safe, "I am going to hold off on giving you this booster until after you've bathed and dressed." He added the medical equipment to his luggage at the door, placed the waiting needle on the table as he walked past, then started making his way over toward the bed Sandburg was tethered to.

Blair felt quite at odds about what he'd discovered. The need to separate himself from this man had just increased hundredfold. If there were agencies willing to harbor and employ Cooper: a psychotic, criminal physician just to get their hands on a working Sentinel/Guide pair then there was no doubt in his mind that these same people were either already aware of Jim and his abilities or they would soon be. On the one hand he had no desire to remain with Cooper to live his life out in servitude as a lab rat, but on the other hand Jim might not be a target if he didn't have a guide to keep his senses online. He shook his head clear of the foreboding thoughts and focused on the here and now and the agitation he felt as Cooper approached him.

Most times because he was shorter in stature than the average male people tended to easily overlook his desire or ability to fight when cornered. This was something he'd used to his advantage on more than one occasion to the dismay and concern of his partner who always encouraged him not to antagonize the bad guys. He could imagine Jim warning him, "Fight smart Chief and you fight safe." He would use that advice now and wait until he saw what Cooper was going to use to cut his bonds. When the Sentinel produced a large nail clipper rather than an intimidating knife he let out a pent up breath in relief; it was one less thing to worry about. He hadn't relished the idea of grappling for a knife with the larger man.

The instant the plastic tie was cut and Blair was free he proceeded with his attack plans. With a swift powerful swing Sandburg brought the hard electronic device around, up, and then smashing down onto the physician's head. He watched with satisfaction as the stunned Sentinel's slower reflexes allowed the man to receive the full force of the blow to his temple. "Sorry, but I think your plans have changed again."

"Bloody Hell!" Andrew doubled over cradling his throbbing head. He'd known his actions would elicit a response from the academic but he hadn't counted on full blown hysteria. He could feel warm blood running down his face and wrist as his hand clutched protectively at the wound.

Blair didn't stop with striking him once though, he pulled back to drive the appliance down again a second time. He tried for a third but was stopped when the alarm was yanked out of his hand and thrown out of reach. The injured Sentinel surged toward him unsteadily but with enough speed to catch Blair before he could counter. The man's shoulder connected with the anthropologist's solar plexus and together the two of them crashed to the floor in a tangled mess of striking fists and kicking feet. A world of pain erupted across Blair's back as he fell heavily onto his bruised shoulder blades. He'd forgotten the injuries he'd sustained at Jim's hands but now he cursed his rotten luck. He was at even more of a disadvantage than he'd realized. With his hardened cast Sandburg clubbed the man straddling him, he sent the plastic zip tie Cooper produced during their fight flying across the floor. The man responded by driving a large heavy knee into Blair's midsection. The academic couldn't help but curl up in the fetal position around the offending organ as white hot pain exploded in his gut.

It was all the distraction the Sentinel needed, Cooper finally managed to grab hold of one of Blair's wrists, he twisted it behind the kid's back to subdue him and then used his other arm to press firmly against his captive's neck keeping him effectively trapped beneath him. Andrew was panting hard as he leaned down invading Blair's personal space to carefully hiss out through clenched teeth, "Don't believe for one instant that your concussion will keep me from panning your head in if you ever try something like this again."

"Give it up, man! I'm never gonna stop fighting you. Heck, Jim's my best friend plus the only Sentinel I willingly choose to stay with yet I still can't help but fight with him. You so don't want me for your guide." Blair was trying his best to wriggle free from the steely grip holding him down.

"If you know what's best for you, you'll quit fighting me!"

"I've been reliably informed I'm incapable of doing what's best for myself..." He blindly gropped for the closest item to bash against Cooper's head. His fingertips brushed against a black standard issue hotel Bible that they'd knocked off the table during their fight. The cast made grabbing the bulky book difficult but the moment his fingers had a firm hold he smacked it flat against the Sentinel's exposed vulnerable ear with all his force.

"Argh..." Cooper staggered back crying out in pain then fell over onto the floor and his side whimpering from the assault his sensitive ear withstood. It rang as if a cannon had been shot off beside it.

Blair watched as Cooper clutched at his bruised head and used the time to roll over with great effort and begin crawling towards the discarded zip tie. He needed to tie the Sentinel up while he was still incapacitated. His vision swam as he finally reached the long white piece of plastic. Just as his hand wrapped around the tie he felt two large hands bear down on either side of his hospital gown. He was roughly yanked away from the ground and lifted off his feet. "I swear I'm gonna make your life a living nightmare if you don't let me go! I'm sick of you Andrew!" He was thrashing about so madly he felt Cooper struggling to keep a firm hold on him. He managed to crack his elbow back into a part of Andrew's head that elicited a grunt of pain and as a result he was thrown down onto the bed. It bowed under the force of the assault and Blair's head cracked loudly against the wooden headboard. Instantly his field of vision greyed out. He laid stunned on the bed waiting for the world to reorient itself.

"I like to think I'm a considerate person." Andrew growled wiping off the blood from the corner of his mouth. "I certainly know I've tried to be patient and civil with you, but you've rebuff my efforts at every chance." The physician leant over and tore the zip tie out of Blair's grasp. Supporting his weight on bent knee beside the guide's motionless form he attached the tie to another one he had in his pocket so it'd be long enough to bind Blair's hands together over the cast. When he was done he sat back on the edge of the bed beside Blair's prone form and took a moment to catch his breath and rein in his temper. He could still feel blood coursing down his face from the gash he'd received courtesy of the anthropologist's novel use of the hotel alarm clock. He wiped his face on his sleeve not caring that he was probably ruining the shirt. He turned to glare down at the young man next to him, "I'll forgive you this slip up since you clearly haven't yet had an opportunity to read the old man's Journal but make no mistake you are a tool, nothing more... nothing less. Merely a tool for 'Us' to make use of when the need arises. I hope you realize that is how Ellison views you as well." He looked up to see Sandburg attempting to roll away from him. Even severely stunned and defeated the kid still fought him tooth and nail. He shook his head and grabbing hold of the young man's closest shoulder rolled him back onto his back beside him. "If you think things were rough before you're in for a surprise. I think it's time you realized your place Guide." In the blink of an eye the Sentinel straddled his captive and placed both his hands on either side of the young man's face. He ignored the confused blue orbs that widened at his actions. "As an Anthropologist I'm certain you'll appreciate this next bit. It's something I learned while reading that interesting Journal..." Cooper leaned down until his forehead touched Blair's and then closed his eyes focusing on bringing into his mind's eye the symbols he had seen in the research he'd stolen. A language he shouldn't have understood had mysteriously been translated by some deeply buried part of his mind and with it the knowledge of a ritual from long ago had been described to him. He remembered it now.

Blair had no idea what Cooper was doing above him but he was certain he didn't like it. A while back he'd been told by Megan that when he'd died at the fountain Jim had held him in the exact same fashion right before he'd been brought back to life. Knowing this caused a rising apprehension and panic to grip him. He pushed with his bound hands at the body holding him down, but he was still too weakened. He tried thrashing his head to dislodge his grip, "Don't, please. Stop th-" Blair gasped, without warning he felt his entire body begin humming, as though he were attached to a Van de Graaff generator. For a brief moment he felt energized, all his aches and pains simply vanished. A comforting feeling of security settled over him as if Jim were right beside him. With his mind's eye he pictured the man; he could see him through a reflection in a window sitting in what appeared to be an aircraft of some type with a deep frown marring his face as he stared out into the passing night. Blair wondered at the odd way he envisioned his best friend but quickly dismissed the peculiarity of it. Stress and duress did crazy things to people. He watched his best friend through the reflection, his entire being aching to be with him rather than where he currently was. Blair pictured himself reaching out and touching his friend's tense face to ease some of the worry the older man was broadcasting. He was shocked when the instant he did so his friend stiffened in his seat appearing to look straight at him, 'Jim?!' Then a wave of vertigo crashed over Blair and the oddly comforting image was torn from him and along with it the feeling of contentment.

He felt himself being dragged back into the nightmare that was playing out around him. There was a loud buzzing in Sandburg's ear followed by the disturbing sensation of having something drawn out of him. A feeling of ice cold wrapped itself like a blanket around his body. He began shivering in response to the foreign sensation. His forehead started to sting as if it was being sliced open and the unexpected sharpness of the pain elicited a cry of pain and alarm from him. Quickly the sensation of warm wetness began to trickle down his temple and back into his hairline. The next thing he knew there was blood in his mouth and when he brushed his tongue against his lip he found it swollen with a large gaping cut in it. Other various aches began to manifest all over his body. His large panicked blue eyes gaped up at the man looming over him. Andrew's cuts and bruises had disappeared entirely and he was staring down at him with a look of amazement and clinical curiosity. Blair's mind raced as he tried to force his disjointed thoughts to focus on the immensity of what had happened, what he could still feel happening. An instinct told him whatever Andrew was doing he was doing too much of. Blair could feel himself getting weaker by the moment. "Stop."

"How amazing. I never would've believed it had I not witnessed it myself. It's worked! Blimey this feels fantastic! Everything, all the pain, it's gone. Even the migraine..." He was breathing heavily as his hands clutched either side of Sandburg's face still.

Blair felt himself approaching a dangerous limit. Breathing was getting difficult and not just because he had a two hundred pound weight bearing down on his chest. "...need to...stop..."

Cooper's senses zeroed in on the body beneath him and with a malicious sneer he doubled his efforts. "What's that my good man? Feeling weak? Rethinking the wisdom of your rebellious attitude? Make no mistake I own you, everything about you...your power and energy too. We might not be bonded yet but I know what you're capable of more than you do yourself. Try your best to remember this the next time you feel compelled to lash out at your Sentinel."

"You'll never be my Sentinel," Blair hissed, before his head snapped to the side as he was back handed in response to the comment. As he felt himself approaching the precipice of what his physical form could handle he was comforted by two things; Firstly, if he died Cooper would fail, most likely driven mad before he succeeded in searching out another guide. Secondly, Jim would go offline like he'd always wanted to in the past and he'd finally achieve the piece he'd been missing for the last several years of his life; simultaneously dropping off the radar for other crazies interested in discovering the inner workings of Sentinels and their Guides. Blair smiled in the face of Cooper's rage. Closing his eyes he anticipated his end with almost a serene sense of welcome. Barely registering the sharp muttered curse from the man above him followed by the quick removal of his weight pinning him down.

'Sandburg? Blair answer me! Don't you dare give up on me. You don't get to give the old man a heart attack and then check out.' The voice was Jim's and was as loud as if it had been shouted in his face at point blank range. Blair blinked in surprise to find himself alone on the bed with Cooper in a state of panic rushing about the room. His brain felt disconnected from all sensation like he was barely clinging to consciousness. He couldn't move but still he wanted to answer his friend's voice. "-im?" His roommate's name was breathed out softly as his head lolled to the side but the detective was nowhere to be seen, at least not within his line of vision. 'I'm losing it. Just under two days and I'm losing it...' "No buddy you're not, but Simon might be if we subject him to anymore of this mystical mumbo jumbo." Blair heard the dumbfounded chuckle of his best friend reverberating in his head and worried his latest injuries were perhaps more than his body could bare. He couldn't lose it he thought stubbornly, "...g'way," he ordered the disembodied voice.

Mustering all his strength Blair dragged his bound hands up to his face to rub over his numb face. He hated how time seemed to drag on when he was with Andrew. When he pulled the hands away there was blood smeared across them. 'Jesus, Sandburg! Your bleeding! What's going on? How bad has Cooper hurt you?' The worry in the voice perfectly mimicked Jim's normal concern when confronted with him being injured. His heart clenched at the cruelty of his unconscious mind. Blair wanted so badly to believe the hallucination he was conjuring to help him deal with what was happening. "I can't take this much longer...God Jim, why haven't you found me yet?...please..." He'd barely muttered the words before Andrew was barreling across the room towards him. His heart began to sound off a staccato beat in response to Andrew's close proximity. He flinched when the Brit roughly reached out for him. "No!" 'Blair?! What's going on?'

"Relax, I believe you've learned your lesson for now. Time to leave. We've company heading our way and I'd rather we were far away before they arrived. Quickly now!"

Cooper loomed into view dragging him up from the bed as though he were handling a ragdoll. 'Just hold on buddy. The cavalry is on their way.' Blair's legs gave out beneath him but he was stopped from collapsing to the floor when he felt himself caught up in the British Sentinel's arms. He was steadied and then led to the bathroom stumbling several more times along the way as his body refused to cooperate.

"We're out of time, so the bath is out of the question." Andrew coughed dramatically sneering at the filthy hospital gown he'd been forced to touch, "We'll just have to tidy you up another way."

Blair was quickly deposited onto the lowered toilet seat cover and then left to sit there as the Sentinel rushed off to moisten a wash cloth and gather some supplies for his task. Abandoned for a second Blair looked up into the bathroom mirror to see the damage wrought on him. He gasped at who stared back at him. Instead of his own reflection the anthropologist saw his roommate gazing back at him a look of calculating anger etched across his stern face. 'Good lord, kid, you look like hell. What happened to your hair!' The image and statement shocked Sandburg so much he reeled back falling off the toilet seat. A moment later two strong hands pulled him up from off the floor and placed him roughly on the seat again.

"Can't leave you alone for a bleedin' second. I'm going to release you, but this time no shenanigans. We have an understanding? I'd rather not have to drug you again. You're already concussed enough as it is." Cooper informed the dazed guide.

Blair stared up into the grave green eyes of his captor with a stupefied expression plastered across his face. Hearing Jim had been one thing but seeing him too...well, he was truly frightened now. He debated whether or not he should mention this to the psychotic physician. The idea of permanent brain damage was not a particularly pleasant one to the graduate student. Honestly he'd prefer death than stupidity or insanity any day. "I - I..." Despite his attempts he couldn't bring himself to reveal what he'd seen. He felt his hands released from their bonds, falling to swing listlessly on either side of his body. A cool rag was wiped across his face and his eyes fell closed in response to the soothing sensation. He let his mind simply drift off as the physician worked quickly to clean up the signs of their altercation. He felt the soiled hospital gown removed but even the embarrassment of being so exposed in front of the madman wasn't enough for him to attempt anything. He just clenched his eyes shut tighter as he was re-dressed like some mannequin. He took little comfort in the feeling of security actual clothes covering his body gave him. 'Blair? Come on Chief, open your eyes. I need to see what's going on.' Blair shuddered as his friend's voice returned again. 'Go away, you're not real.' He heard a sad sigh in response to that statement, 'Oh buddy, you couldn't be more wrong. Don't ask me how but I felt you. You reached me kiddo, across hundreds of miles you reached out to me. You did good partner.' Blair allowed himself to hope for the first time since his Sentinel's voice manifested inside his head that maybe he wasn't losing it and that Jim was really communicating with him somehow. 'You have no idea how bad I want to believe you man. But I'm tempted to believe it's the drug...it makes me so sick.' He felt his head fill with an emotion of righteous anger that he knew wasn't coming from himself, he was too tired to feel much more than exhaustion. 'Believe what you want sport, but I'm telling you I felt you in my head and this is real. I gotta say as uncomfortable as that makes me feel I'm damn glad to be able to talk to you and see you, Chief.' A startled laugh escaped Blair at his friend's revelation. His eyes opened to see Cooper studying him carefully with narrowed eyes. 'Oh God Jim if you are real then I think Cooper suspects what we've accomplished...' 'Calm down, Blair. Don't freak out. Whatever happens we can reestablish the connection again. I'm coming buddy. Hang tight, Simon and I are on our way.' Blair glanced past Andrew's kneeling form to the image of his best friend in the mirror. He looked sadly into his best friend's hard blue eyes and sent a wave of affection and love through his mind to the detective wherever he was. He heard Jim gasp in surprise at the onslaught of emotions.

Cooper followed Sandburg's gaze to the mirror and back, measuring the suddenly calm expression and steadying heartbeat of the student seated before him. He was reminded of the journal's other title for the warrior's companion and quick as lightning he cupped his hands around the fledgling shaman's face forcing him to break contact with whatever he was looking at in the mirror.

Blair's whole body was shaken violently.

"What are you doing?!" Cooper demanded. Blair just stared dumbly at him, but the rebellious air had clearly returned to the weary young man.

"What do you mean? I'm just sitting here like you told me."

"Don't lie to me, Shaman." Cooper shook the head in his hands roughly. "You're trying to contact him aren't you!"

"You're getting paranoid Andrew..." Blair could literally feel Jim tensing in his mind. 'Don't Sandburg-' Bolstered by the presence of his friend and Sentinel in his mind, Blair leaned forward into Cooper's space ignoring the warning growl of his best friend, "I think maybe your drug might be adversely affecting you now. I bet you didn't have a whole lot of time to test its side-effects did you?" Now the anger he felt whirling around in his mind was directed at him. 'Damn it, Sandburg, don't piss him off. You're in no shape to take another beating!' The hands on either side of his face moved to grip firmly around his throat.

"I warn you Guide don't trifle with me. You forget I still have your mother and the old professor as leverage."

Blair's eyes closed quickly in regret as he thought of the two other people he cared most for aside from Jim. The act of thinking about them caused a rush of images of them to swarm forth into his mind. He felt and heard Jim gasping as he turned the fragmented images over in his mind analyzing them carefully. Jim's alarmed voice sounded out, 'Blair, stop!' The anthropologist didn't know how but he was accessing memories from Ellison's mind. With this newly acquired knowledge his eye's opened and he confidently glared into Cooper's green eyes with his own steely blue ones, "You're lying." He wasn't asking but rather stating a fact. He smiled at the budding sentinel who was vibrating with anger across from him, a hard knowing look settling across his face. "They're both fine. You don't have them and you can't touch them. You're leverage is gone Andrew..."

Andrew's face showed a look of panicked rage. An animalistic growl started rumbling up from deep within him. He stared into Blair's eyes looking past the young man sitting with him and addressed the other he knew was linked somehow to the Guide. "He's mine! MINE! Do you hear me!?" Cooper snatched up the syringe he'd retrieved from the table and uncapped the needle with his teeth. "Say goodbye gentleman..."

"Wait! Not that!" Blair shouted as he realized the physician's train of thought. He kicked desperately at the larger man in an effort to keep distance between him and the syringe full of inhibitor. Sensing his partner's rising panic and despair Jim tried to calm his guide. 'Chief? Calm down Sandburg, you'll only injure yourself worse if you fight him. I'll be with with you when you wake up, I promise!' 'Not with this! It'll block our connection Jim... I don't want to lose you again...' He lunged himself at Cooper in an attempt to get away from the toilet and being cornered but was easily overpowered. 'Blair I promise I'm on my way. I'll find you!'

Pinning the thrashing anthropologist against the porcelain tank Cooper plunged the needle deep into Blair's arm injecting the contents into his system and massaging the injection site to speed up dispersion into the blood, effectively severing the connection between Sentinel and Guide.

Blair felt Jim's presence in his mind fade away leaving in its place a weighty gaping void which threatened to swallow him whole. He saw the fist flying at his face a little too late and was left sprawling on the bathroom floor as a result.

"I hope that was worth it." Andrew stood towering over Blair as he addressed him. He produced a small white pill bottle and shook two pills out into his open palm as he glared down at him. "I had planned on allowing you to remain conscious for the duration of this trip Blair, so long as you promised to behave yourself. Now, though, I can see I have little choice but to keep you down and out for the count. Too clever for your own good you blighter." He knelt down over the angry and dazed graduate student and pried open his mouth with one hand while forcing the two pills inside with his other. He clamped his hand over Blair's mouth ignoring the panicking wide eyes and the tongue trying to push the pills out of his mouth. He pinched Blair's nose closed with his other hand.

Blair's hands fought to pry Cooper's away from his mouth. In a morbid sort of way he was reminded of Alex as he lay on the bathroom floor his body writhing for a breath of air. The struggle didn't last long as Blair finally reflexively swallowed the pills, betrayed by his body's automatic response and need to inhale air.

Andrew removed his hand from the student's nose watching Blair's chest heave as he inhaled greedy lungfuls of air through his nose. He hovered over his charge to ensure Sandburg wouldn't induce vomiting to evacuate the medicine from his system and wait for the drugs to kick in. He cradled the guide's head with one hand while the other remained fixed firmly over his mouth. Soon the seething blue eyes began to flutter closed and the hands gripping his forearm and wrist lost their strength and fell to the tile floor beside the limp body. Cooper carefully set Blair's head down on the cool bathroom floor and fished out his cell phone. He spoke quickly and quietly into the small device, "I need a distraction so I can get us out of here. I don't know how but they found us. I can hear police sirens getting closer and I'm out of time." Cooper's eyes darted down to the body beneath him, "Yes he was a bit more troublesome than I originally anticipated." After a few moments of silence spent listening to the speaker on the other end of the line his gaze hardened, "No I won't be making that mistake again, sir."

TBC...

Hope everyone liked it. Sorry it took so long. I was having serious writer's block. But things seem to be flowing once more. Yay.


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